Honestly
by XNobodyXSomebodyX
Summary: Roxas is the top student in their class, rich, living in a beautiful mansion, popular, set on the path to an Ivy League college, he seems to have it all, doesn't he? But Sora is going to screw it up for him, and he knows he can't resist his pull. SoRox
1. Chapter 1

_**I know I haven't posted anything in... about two months now? I think? But I won't bother with excuses. The important part is that I'm back at school, I'm back to writing, and I've actually posted something again. This is a new story that I was thinking about, I haven't put too much planning into it, but it's mostly at the idea stage right now. This is the first chapter, 13 pages long, which is a bit longer than my normal 10, but at least I didn't continue it like I had been planning and turn it into 20 or something!**_

**_I know some (a lot) of people are going to say SOMETHING about Sora's personality and that it's so OOC, but he ain't an ass, alright you guys? He's actually pretty smart in this story and he won't be the stereotypical hyper, brain-dead, and constantly happy guy. Does anyone else remember Anti-Sora? Yeah, Sora got a dark-side, too. So I just want to ask you guys to not freak out about how he acts for about the first half of this first chapter, he is still a very kind and considerate person, it's just something that is going to be seen over time. So, without further ado..._**

**_Honestly_**

"Honestly, it had never been my intention to push him in the fountain, I mean, _yeah_, I don't like him, _yeah_, I did have a motive for it and, _yeah_, I did say I wished someone would beat some reasoning into him. **But**, and this is the big 'but' that you're supposed to listen to when someone gives it, I didn't mean for that 'someone' to be _me._

"More like I meant for it to be Riku, however, with the results of my note passing and strong hinting and the lack of action from him, I'd assume he was making a point of ignoring my plan of him beating the shit outta that guy so that I can still call myself a pacifist… Because a pacifist is just someone who isn't violent, right? I mean, I can still support violence… right? It's not like it's all the time! Only when WWE is on at Riku's house, or when some bitch pisses Kairi off and she takes them _down_ with the stuff she learned from WWE at Riku's house, or when someone bugs me a little too much and I convince either Riku or Kairi to take care of them…

"That still makes me a pacifist, right? Maybe I should actually look that word up…

"Oh, but yeah, me being a pacifist (maybe) and all, I totally didn't mean to shove Roxas into the fountain… It was self-defense… somehow. Wait, gimme a second to think of how… Uh, alright! So, you know that stupid plan he's developing with the school administrators and stuff? You know, that dumb Advisory shit he's trying to convince us to go to, where we all get assigned a small group of students and a teacher, then sit around in a circle and talk about things like our feelings, bullying, and other emo-shit? Yeah, he heard about it at some other school and now is making it start at our school.

"Just… What the fuck is wrong with this kid, anyways? Senior year, the year we're supposed to coast through and sit on top of all the other kids, and he's making us sit around in an AA Meeting? It's not like he's just doing this out of the blue, though, I guess, we've been seeing _those_ signs since freshmen year. You know the signs, being top of the class, having the principal's number on speed-dial, being vice-president on the Student Council, being the leader of the 'Tree-Hugger's' program (or whatever it is that it's actually called), and somehow managing to also fit in being one of the best at some wimpy-ass sport… like cheerleading, or tennis… He was one of those, although, for the sake of his manliness, I actually hope he's on cheerleading, then he can at least have the excuse of looking up girl's skirts, or something.

"But, yeah, so pushing him in the fountain was, like, a delayed self-defense. _Obviously_, someone like me has much better things to do than to sit around in a circle and be told to stop drinking… oh, I mean, to be nicer to people (I forgot it wasn't an actual AA Meeting, sorry). And, yeah, so when I saw him, you know, I just kinda shoved before I thought. And, in my defense, I didn't realize that the fountain was behind him, it kinda just didn't register that he would fall in there and not on the ground. So it ain't my fault his uniform is all wet now.

"I'm sorry his uniform got wet because of me. I will throw it in my dryer, alright?"

The principal sat across from the brunette boy seated in front of her desk, glowering at the seemingly sweet and innocent boy as he finished what was just about the longest, and the worst, apology she had ever heard from a high school senior, (honestly, didn't most seniors just kind of lay low so they wouldn't get held back in their _last year_, so she wasn't expecting this, and she was starting to wish she had recorded it to laugh about with her husband later) and speaking of how long that had taken… It would seem that he decided to cause trouble for her after-school plans, also.

He just had to go and push Roxas in a fountain at the _end_ of school, now she couldn't get the hell out of here and have dinner with her husband, that just pisses her off, why couldn't students just start shit at the beginning of the day? Then she could watch them beat the shit out of each other while she _has_ to be here, and get the fuck out after it's done and she _can_ leave. What bull shit.

Her large emerald eyes darted over to the annoyed stance of the prized honor student at her school, Roxas Casey, dressed in his PE clothes with a scowl on his pale, flawless face. She _did_ like this kid though, not only was he smart enough to graduate from here with excellent marks and get into an excellent college, but he also participated in enough school activities that he was rapidly building up the school's reputation and making her look like the best principal ever. Plus, he wasn't some nerdy little snot either; he wasn't painful to look at. So she'd like to keep him around at least until he graduated.

On the other hand… there was the "bully" in this scenario, Sora Evans. She actually didn't have much against this kid either, she really liked his style, even though she was more of a straight-up kind of person and he was more manipulative than that, but there had to be something impressive to say about someone who has managed to live 18 years of their life getting almost everything they want by using the people around him. Except, now, she had to make a choice of who she liked more at the moment, and because Roxas obviously benefits her more in this situation, Sora had to be punished…

"Alright. Sora, you're a royal douche, bad boy. Pay to have Roxas's uniform dry-cleaned. Good? Good. No get outta here, I wanna go home."

Roxas's eyes narrowed in anger as Sora's grin spread across his face, turning his attention to the principal staring at the clock on her computer before taking out a compact to check out her make-up. Principal Larxene Gardener, probably the worst principal you would ever meet, but Roxas liked the reputation of the school as a whole, and the programs they had here, so he had no choice but to put up with her… Even so, "Ms. Gardener, is that really it?"

Larxene's eyes rolled in annoyance as she spun her chair around and continued inspecting her make-up away from them, "Fine, fine, and, uh, a week of detention, alright? Just tell my secretary out front and leave, I'm busy."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sora hopped up, roughly grabbing Roxas's arm and half dragging him out of the room, stopping as soon as the door shut to glare at him, "Thanks, douche, you just had to add the detention in there, didn't you? Isn't getting your uniform dry-cleaned good enough?"

Roxas glared back at him, "Are you serious? You pushed me in a fountain!"

"Yeah! It's not like I pushed you down a hill or something! All that was hurt was your uniform, what are you complaining about?"

"Are you just thick, or are you really retarded?" Roxas sneered back at him, then continued before Sora could snap back, "You didn't just get my uniform wet! You wounded my pride, my reputation, and not to mention the humiliation I felt from having to walk around in my PE clothes!"

Sora scoffed and walked down the hall, muttering something along the lines of "pussy," but Roxas just decided to be the mature one and ignore him. They walked towards the secretary's desk to get out of school already, grabbing the plastic bag with Roxas's wet uniform in it and passing by; Sora was going to enter the waiting room when he heard Roxas whispering to the man at the desk, "His punishment is dry-cleaning my uniform and 3 weeks of detention."

"3? It's 1 she said!" Sora spun around and snapped, Roxas glaring back at him, but the secretary just glanced between the two and sighed.

Xaldin Dilan, a very big, very dread-locked, very side-burned man who did not look like a secretary from any angle whatsoever, looked between the two before speaking in his deep baritone, "He pushed you in a fountain, right?" Roxas just nodded in confirmation, making the man grunt and type something, "Dry-clean uniform and 1 week of detention."

Sora's face lit-up, "HA!"

Roxas pouted however, giving a pathetic puppy-dog betrayed look at the secretary, but Xaldin just shook his head, "Roxas, in life, there will be many people who will try to push you into fountains."

The two blinked for a moment before Sora's head fell to the side in confusion, "Uh, literally or metaphorically?"

Roxas scoffed and folded his arms, glowering at the brunette, "Metaphorically, obviously, there's not as many people in this world with such an unadulterated stupidity as you."

"Both metaphorically and literally. There have been many who have tried to take me down…" Xaldin suddenly shot out of his seat, a fierce look being focused on the two, short, now quivering, boys in front of him, "But none have succeeded! Build yourself like a wall and block all of your opponents attempts! And-"

"OKAY," Sora latched onto Roxas's wrist before nearly sprinting out of the door and back into the waiting room, "It was nice talking to you, dude, thanks for the advice, see ya later!"

The door slamming shut behind them, Roxas scowled and snatched his wrist back from the other's hot hand, rubbing it as if to rub away the feeling of the other's hand tingling against his skin, he turned his attention to see if his friends had waited for him. Luckily, Hayner and Olette had, but so had Riku and Kairi. The scene before him contained Hayner sizing up Riku, and seeming to try and puff out his chest a bit to compare, but Riku seemed to have slid down his seat to nap lazily, and Olette glaring at Kairi and her uniform, looking critically at the way she had unbuttoned one too many buttons on the blouse and had her skirt a little too high, but the redhead didn't seem to notice as she rapidly texted on her phone.

Surprisingly, Kairi finally seemed to notice Olette's searing gaze and turned her attention to it, elbowing Riku and making the silver-haired teen wake-up and glance at her amused expression at the brunette girl. Her eyes went from Olette's feet, covered in new plain dress shoes, to her extra long skirt, to her blouse that was even buttoned at the neck, and her curly brown hair, and then smirked. Now, Roxas wasn't exactly fluent in girl, but he knew enough that he could say he was pretty sure that translated to, "BURN BITCH."

Olette glared harder, a weak comeback, but a mature one, and Roxas would have to approve of that rather than the much more satisfying approach, going against someone like Kairi would be pointless. But it seems like Kairi wasn't satisfied with having a constant glare on her, so she ignored her phone, with its screen lighting up continuously with all the texts she was missing, and then smiled sweetly, "Sorry, hun, I know you want some of this, but I just ain't interested."

Riku howled with laughter as Sora snickered, Roxas bite his lip to keep it from rising in amusement, not from Olette's embarrassment, but more from the comeback, it was rather funny. But then his eyes focused on the hostile aura that seemed to radiate from his friends, and he decided it was time to leave, so he cleared his throat and caught their attention, motioning for them to go and leave Sora to his childish games.

The last thing he heard before the door closed and they begin exiting the school being Kairi automatically starting to question Sora about what happened with the principal, but instead of straining his ears a bit to just catch even the beginning of what Sora's reply would be, Olette repeated the same question to him. He placed a hand on his left shoulder and messaged it slightly, feeling a soreness that had developed there from the awkward way he landed in the fountain, "Uh, he has to dry-clean my uniform, and he got a week of detention."

Hayner scoffed and raised and looked back at him, "That's it? He should've gotten at least a month! Pence could probably hack into the computer and change it…"

"No, don't bother," Roxas quickly said, shaking his head a bit, "He had made a scene at Xaldin's desk about the amount of detention, so changing it now would just put too much suspicion on us." Besides, that felt like cheating, too, Roxas didn't want to play that way, he had wanted Sora to receive justice the proper way. It's just too bad that Larxene didn't like to play her role as the juror too well when she had a date with her husband soon.

He heard Olette's soft footsteps come up to walk at the same pace as him, whispering so as to not be heard as they headed for the front entrance to leave the school, "Maybe not that then, but Pence could also alter his grades so that he could be kicked out of the school altogether for having such horrible marks. Our school does have that rule, remember? If he even gets a single D, he's out."

Roxas scowled at that, feeling his irritation from not just his friends, but the entire day in general, finally starting to get to him, "No."

Olette sighed and stopped walking as they reached the front gates of the school, Hayner stopping next to her and making Roxas turn to look at them, Olette crossed her arms and smiled, "You're really are a nice person, Rox, and that's a good thing, but there is such a thing as being too nice. If you don't do something about Sora, he'll end up harassing you for the rest of your time here. Remember last year? Wasn't he the one who spray-painted those rude words on your locker?"

Roxas felt his eyebrows furrow together and then turned away, "No, that Seifer guy did it, the one who graduated last year."

Hayner scoffed again at that, "That bastard, he was just doing it because _Sora_ convinced him to, and probably because he didn't like you that much to begin with. Olette's right, Rox, this is our last year, after this we'll be going to college and you'll just find someone exactly like his there, you have to learn how to take care of this type of person so that you can focus on the more important things. This last year is our most important year, you have to take care of Sora for good or else he'll-"

"I will!" Roxas snapped back at them, then chewed on his lip as he thought it over, "I'll do it the right way though, I'm not going to do anything dirty like what you guys suggested. I want it to be done in a way that he will realize the way he's acting has been wrong this entire time."

Hearing footsteps behind them, Olette and Hayner looked over their shoulders to see the said person and his friends walking towards them, making them glare at him as he just passed and began walking off school grounds, all three ignoring their group all together. Olette sighed in unconcealed relief and looked back at Roxas with a worried gaze, "Well I just don't want you to keep having to deal with this trouble, I'm sorry. Just watch out for him, alright? You know how it is with those guys. I have to go to Student Council, you just take the day off, alright, Rox? Go home and think this over."

Hayner nodded to him also, seeming to have just shrugged the entire thing off, "I got Struggle practice, I'll see you later, man."

Roxas nodded and sighed as they began walking away, leaving him to turn and begin walking down the sidewalk towards his home. Most kids that went to their private school got picked up by chauffeurs, but he turned down his chauffeur's offers to pick him up, as he lived only a couple blocks from the school anyways. Vaguely, in the back of his head, he realized that Sora and his friends had walked down this way, but as long as he walked slow enough he probably wouldn't bump into them.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he was grateful for one thing that resulted in being shoved in the fountain; it meant that with the visit to the nurse, the gym lockers to get clothes, and the principal's office, he missed his last two periods and didn't end up having any homework that needed to be done today, so he left his bag in his locker.

Turning the corner and glancing up, he practically winced as he saw Sora hopping out of a convenience store, sea-salt ice cream in hand and Riku and Kairi at his heals, Kairi with a red slurpee and Riku with a bag of chips. This moment gave him a minute to actually look over the three, realizing that while Kairi and Riku did dress a bit like the delinquents they were known as, they dressed at least more properly than Sora, the brunette boy looked like he would be a sweetheart, but it was contradicted with the way he dressed. He wasn't like Riku and Kairi who just didn't tuck their shirts in and let their ties hang loosely, but it was like he one-upped them somehow, of course he didn't tuck in his shirt, but he didn't even bother with a tie, and what with the studded belt he wore, the giant crown necklace along with a choker with dog-tags, and the studded wrist band he wore, he just over-all didn't look like he belonged to their private school…

It really made Roxas wonder just how the hell he managed to get in. But before he could really think on that subject, Sora's laughing reached his ears and made him realize he was still walking and they were still in front of the convenience store, meaning he would have to pass them. It wasn't that he was scared of them, really, but he just didn't feel like getting into anymore trouble today, he was much too tired. Crossing the street now would not only be J-walking, but it would probably just draw more attention to his avoidance of them when people would honk at him for cutting them off. The least suspicious thing to do would be just to keep walking and don't make eye-contact.

He stayed on the sidewalk, didn't glance at them, looked (more like glared) straight ahead, but started to sweat when he heard the three of them stop talking and laughing, then his vision of his safe trip home went blue. Or more like sapphire, a rather pretty sapphire, but still not the color he wanted at the moment, he didn't want any color, just his home. Blinking for a moment, he realized the sapphire color wasn't his entire vision, but rather, it was actually the color of Sora's eyes, Sora who had cut in front of him and made him stop walking with his body, and now they were so close that he could feel his breathing on his lips.

He jumped back at a speed that would impress his tennis coach (not cheerleading, sorry to disappoint you, Sora) and stared in shock at the grinning brunette in front of him, about to yell at him for surprising him like that when a heavy arm was thrown around his shoulders, making him stiffen as he glanced up to see Riku smirking down at him with mischievous eyes peering through long (against school code) platinum bangs. Kairi, seeming to decide to mostly stay out of the boy's play, stood off to the side and behind Sora, continuing to text rapidly on her phone.

Sora's grin didn't falter a bit, still seeming so utterly sweet even though Roxas knew that he was dealing with a nasty person deep down, "What do you want now? You'll get arrested for assault if you push me in a fountain off school grounds, you know."

Sora's laughter rang through the air again, making the blonde scowl at him but relax a bit, he really didn't sound malicious, and in all honesty, he was probably at least smart enough to not do anything to him in front of a convenience store (he did get into their private school _somehow_), besides, if he was going to get Riku to hurt him or something, then it would have happened already, Riku wasn't the kind of guy who wasted time on trivial things like someone else's life.

Sora's grin remained on his face as his intense blue eyes focused onto Roxas's baby blues, their gazes locking in a kind of show-down neither were about to back down out of, "Chill, Roxie, I ain't gonna hurt you… I'm a pacifist!"

"You don't even know the meaning of that word! A pacifist condemns all violence, you idiot! They don't do acts of violence, don't support violence, nothing!" Roxas snapped at him, brushing Riku's arm off his shoulders and walking forward to get around the annoying teen.

Sora blinked in surprise for a moment, then shrugged and smiled again, "Ah, so I guess I'm not a pacifist, but _Roxie_, you didn't have to be so mean! You're so much nicer when you're at school!" Roxas spun around to glare at the boy, then sighed deeply, crossing his arms as he tried to keep himself calm, ignoring how Sora's existence in itself just managed to irritate him so much, it was true, he never acted like this at school.

"Please stop calling me that. What do you want? I want to go home, shower, change, and then get back to school so I can attend the School Council meeting."

Sora's smile turned lazy as he brought his arms up and crossed them behind his head, making Roxas notice the plastic bag with his clothes in them still in his hand, "You just can't chill, can you? Really, Roxie, I was just gonna ask ya if ya wanna come to the Laundromat with me so you can get your uniform back now. We do have school tomorrow; after all, won't you need this?"

Roxas scowled as he heard the pet name again, but ignored it, arguing with Sora was a pointless idea, "I'm fine, I have spares at home, just please return it soon." He spun on his heel, leaving Sora behind to watch the blonde angrily walk away with a huff. He pouted, turning to look over at Riku, but the platinum blonde just smirked and shrugged at him, making him instead turn his pout to Kairi.

The redhead looked at him, then Roxas, then back at him with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you interested? He sounds like a total prick, probably a back-stabber, too, like his older sister," Sora sighed heavily, letting his arms drop like they were heavy, and slumping as he began meandering down the sidewalk again, making Kairi roll her eyes at his dramatic act, "I'm not gonna help you with him, Sor, I'm not getting involved with the Casey family again, just forget about him."

Riku cleared his throat, making both of the other teens turn their attention back to him, making him smirk vainly, "Well, you know, you could always talk to Axel. Roxas's sister is Naminé, right? She goes to the same university as Axe, and with them both being die-hard art students, there might be a good chance they know each other, or at least share a class."

"Really?" Sora's face lit up as Kairi glared in Riku's direction.

She put her hand on Sora's shoulder to draw his attention away from Riku, worry making her eyebrows come together, "Sora, I still think it's a bad idea to get involved in that family. Naminé was a backstabber, and Roxas seems like a douche, there are a lot more way better people to hang out with. Why are you so caught-up on Roxas, anyways?"

Sora thought for a moment, blinking up at the sky before looking back at her, "I honestly don't know. It's just that… he, well…"

"Whatever," Sora and Kairi looked over to the platinum blonde in surprise at his interruption, "There's no reason not to, right? After this year, we won't have to deal with them anymore, so why not?"

Kairi scowled angrily, but then crossed her arms and sighed heavily, "Fine, I guess there's no real harm when you put it that way, just… I don't know, be careful?" Sora smiled brightly at her, making her roll her eyes at him and look at the plastic bag in his hands, "You're going to Cid's for that, right? Might as well talk to Axel while you're there, but leave me out of this, I don't want to be involved with that family ever again."

Sora nodded quickly and looked out at the street, waiting for a free moment for them to dart across to get to the other side. Much farther down the sidewalk, Roxas jumped and spun around when he heard horns blaring, sighing in relief when he realized that Sora, Riku and Kairi had just cut off some car to run across the street. He ignored it and continued home quickly, forgetting about everything else annoying today and focusing on the issues he knew would be discussed at the meeting today, the meeting he was missing more and more of with every second he wasted.

Shoving his fists in his pockets again, he sighed in relief when he saw the gate to his home coming up, the mansion he lived in residing on the other side of it, and then realized something as a sinking sickening feeling settled in him…

His wallet, keys, and his cell phone had been in his uniform's pants.

_**I'M LAZY AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE DEALING WITH FF'S LINES SO THIS IS MY LINE**_

Axel was a really tall, green eyed punk who had his hair dyed fire-engine-red and spiked like a hedgehog, with tattoos under his eyes that made him slightly resemble a clown. With two right eyebrow piercings and this labret that he would often use his tongue to play with when bored, his laugh was loud and would fill the room and make your ribcage vibrate with it, and even though he was practically a walking stickperson, he would great anyone close to him with this giant bear-hug that could lift people twice his weight off their feet. But it was for none of these reasons that Sora absolutely loved to hang out with this guy…

Axel was incredibly warm, not in body temperature, but in personality, he had this passion that would throw you over-board if you weren't hanging on tight enough, and a heart that would welcome anyone back in despite their past sins against him. Even though he acted like a tough guy and had a rough exterior that would scare most people off, Sora was mostly thankful for that. Normal people would probably take advantage of the guy if they knew he was actually so kind, but… then again, he should probably put more trust in Axel. He did make it 20 years without any major scars; he might just have a good judge of character.

He did work for Cid, after all, who also had an exterior that would make children cry but a heart that would give them a lollipop and teddy bear, then let them play with some blocks and coloring books he kept under the cash register's counter while their parents waited for their laundry to finish. Sora had met him in a similar manner, after having been adopted by his uncle Auron, he would often be brought to Cid's Laundromat with his cousin, Vanitas, to get their laundry done.

Sora almost wet himself the first time his gaze met with Cid's, but then he got a Jolly Rancher and some blocks, and figured he wasn't so bad. Having known Cid for most of his life, he had been surprised when the guy had actually decided to hire help, seeing as he was always too stubborn when Sora had offered to help him out, but he liked Axel. Now that he was older and going to such a good school, Cid always showed his affection in, not blocks and Jolly Ranchers (although, Sora would still accept those just as happily), but by letting him do his laundry here for free.

He stepped into the place, pulling on the collar of his dress shirt as he looked around for Axel. The place wasn't a run-down Laundromat or anything, Cid did some pretty good business and kept the place plenty clean, but they still couldn't afford AC, so all the windows were open, even though didn't help the heat any. He always thought that downtown, Hollow Bastion, felt hotter than uptown, Radiant Gardens, where the school was, for some reason.

Finally hearing a bang from the small room in the corner, where the register and coin-machine were, he smiled widely and jogged over to the area, peering through the window inside to see Axel rubbing his head on the floor, a chair tipped onto it's back under him. He always did have the tendency to fall asleep on the really hot days, but no one ever woke him up, instead, Sora, Cid, and Vanitas would usually make bets as to how long until his chair would tip over, like it just did.

Speaking of Cid, Sora saw no sight of him. Maybe he was out? Either way, he still had to get Roxas's uniform clean, and with the way the sunset was leaking in through the windows, it didn't look like he would make it home before dark, "Hey, Axel, have a nice nap?"

The redhead looked up in surprise before a cat-like grin spread over his face, he was off the floor in seconds, throwing open the door of the small room to come out and grab Sora off his feet. Sora laughed as he felt himself picked up, but hugged back anyways, he honestly didn't mind if it was Axel, who did something like picking him up out of affection, if it had been Riku, he would've probably shouted because it would've been teasing towards his height.

After finally being putting back down on his feet again, he smiled up at the redhead, "Hey, Axe, what's up?"

Axel grinned at him and reached in through the window, passing by a magazine opened to an advertisement to the Broken Hearts concert next month, to smack the register and let it pop open, grabbing the key ring from inside, "Not bad, Brownie, what do you need?"

"Brownie," short for "Brownie-Scout," it was Axel's nickname for him, as the first time they met, Axel had actually had a broken leg and was trying to get to Cid's but was stuck crossing the street with no crosswalk, so Sora had helped him out. Axel hadn't dropped that nickname still, but he had at least stopped asking to see all his "Scout Badges."

"Just one uniform, I'm actually supposed to get it dry-cleaned, but I'll iron it at home." He shrugged, holding up the plastic bag, the water from the uniform still inside apparent from the outside, making Axel scrunch up his nose.

"Don't you always do that anyways?" He asked, raising an eyebrow but walking over to one of the washing machines, sticking the key in and turning it on, "There you go."

Sora nodded gratefully and went to dump the entire bag into the machine, a vague wondering about if Roxas had put his underwear in the bag too was floating around in the back of his head, but he figured that even if they were wet, a guy like him wouldn't walk around without underwear. Tipping the bag over and letting the contents fall in, a bang resounded from inside that made Axel jump suddenly, causing Sora to snicker at his expense. The redhead ignored him, giving a weird look at the machine, "What the fuck was that?"

Sora bent over the machine to reach inside and pull all the clothes out again, first the white dress shirt, then the dark blue slacks, pausing when he felt like it was a little heavier than normal, he searched for the pockets and found a wallet in the back pocket, dropping the wet leather on the table next to the machine, then searched the other two front pockets to find a small keychain with a few keys and a cell phone. Roxas seriously forgot all that?

Axel snorted, chuckling lightly, "A little absent minded when dressing, Brownie? Why are your clothes all wet, anyways, you fall in a pond or something?"

Sora laughed, "Ah, no, today I pushed a guy from my school in a fountain, so now I have to clean his clothes. I guess he forgot his stuff in his pockets, though, didn't expect him to be that forgetful."

"Hey," Axel grumbled, scowling seriously at the shorter boy, "Don't be starting trouble at your school now, you get a delinquent record and you won't get hired anywhere, bosses check for that stuff you know, trust me."

"Yeah, I know, I know, it's a miracle that Cid isn't the kind of guy to give a shit if you threw eggs at the graduating class before you got kicked out of the school."

"Hey! I told you I was framed!"

Sora snickered again and looked down at the slacks in his hand before sighing, "Hey, Axe, do you know a Naminé Casey?"

The redhead paused at the sudden change of topic for a moment, then nodded a bit and moved around the teen to sit on the table, right next to the wet dress shirt, "Hm, Naminé? Uh, yeah, I've talked to her once or twice, small sweet girl in my Art History class." Sora nodded slowly for a moment, thinking, making Axel become slightly suspicious of the way he was acting, "Hey, now, what about this girl? You know her? Want to know her?"

Sora shrugged a bit, "Well, I know her younger brother, Roxas. It's just…" Sora stopped, looking down at the pants in his hands worriedly, "Well, don't think I'm a weird stalker or anything, but I thought that he had always looked really unhappy. He's always frowning, and he's so uptight that it looks a little painful, how tense he is. I was just wondering what his home life was like, if he was maybe under a lot of stress."

Axel's eyes widened as he reached over and gently ran his hand through the brunette's soft spikes, "Aw, hey, don't worry, I'll talk to Naminé for you, alright?"

Sora looked up quickly, his face slightly flushed as if he was really upset, looking up at Axel with a worried expression over his face, "Ah, but what if she gets worried over Roxas, too, and it just causes him more stress? I don't want to make it worse!"

Axel frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then sighed with a smile, "Alright, how about this? Saturday, I'll invite her to get coffee or something under the pretext that I want to talk about some stuff in out class and borrow some notes, you happen to show up and since we're friends, you sit with us. Then you get a chance to talk to her, that sound good?"

Sora let his face light up with a grin, nodding quickly in agreement and thanking the redhead before moving to put the clothes back in the washer. He paused as something white caught his eyes, reaching inside to pull out a pair of black and white checkered briefs, making Sora snicker again.

So, when they talked in front of the convenience store, he really was going commando the entire time. That's kind of hot.

**_I BET YOU'RE ALL SO JEALOUS OF THIS KICK-ASS AWESOME LINE AREN'T YOU_**

After finishing his business at Cid's, carrying Roxas's clothes home with him in a new, dry, plastic bag, he smiled to himself. Honestly, he really did feel bad about manipulating Axel like that, but he didn't do it a lot. And besides, he got the feeling that most of the time, Axel knew he was being manipulated, but he would make it up to him.

There was still time to buy those Broken Hearts concert tickets, wasn't there? He knew Axel liked that band…

Finally reaching home, he pulled Roxas's cell phone from his pocket to see that it was 7 at night already. It really was a pain in the ass to walk between his home and school, as his school was in Radiant Gardens and his house was in Hollow Bastion, not that it could be helped, Radiant Gardens was more of a place for the rich, and Hollow Bastion was more of a place for those who didn't have the money to just throw around.

Pushing the door open, he dropped his school bag and plastic bag on the floor before glancing at the cell phone again, he didn't have one of his own, but he knew how to work one because he had borrowed Riku's every once in awhile when needed, and he knew Roxas was rich and everything, so a new cell phone probably isn't a big deal, but wouldn't he at least call it to get Sora to return his wallet and keys, too? He shrugged it off, though, he would just give it all back tomorrow, Roxas was probably just too embarrassed to call or something.

Walking past the kitchen and into the small living room, he glanced at Vanitas on the couch, the house phone pressed to his ear as the sounds of, who he assumed was Vanitas's boyfriend, was chatting through to him, but the teen had his full attention on the TV in front of him, when he noticed his cousin walk in, though, he hung up the phone and turned his focus to him, "Dad's out back, he said he wanted to talk to you."

Sora nodded and sighed as he heard the phone ringing in Vanitas's hand, the boyfriend (probably soon to be ex-boyfriend) was angry now, not like his cousin really cared. He walked over to the sliding glass door to see it open, Auron sitting in one of the plastic lawn chairs with a can of beer on the plastic table next to him. On the other side of the table sat another chair for Sora, so he walked out to take a seat in it.

Yawning, Sora leaned back in his chair, staring up at the sky and sighing again before turning his attention over to his uncle Auron, but the man mostly ignored him and continued to stare up at the stars above them. The silence was light, comfortable, and let Sora feel like he could finally breath right, as the cool air was settling over them, a sharp pain on his wrist made him glance over to see a mosquito resting on him, making him worry his lip as he watched it finally take flight away from him.

Inside the house, they both could hear the phone ringing, but neither really felt like getting up and answering it, knowing who was still calling and knowing Vanitas wouldn't answer it. It just didn't matter as much as the moment of peace they were becoming lost in.


	2. Chapter 2

_**... There are a lot of lines in this one... Anyways, first thing I gotta say: thank you to everyone who clicked favorite/alert! I love all of you! And double thanks to those of reviewed (I think I replied to all of you already... hopefully), I'll dedicate these awesome lines to you, alright? xD**_

**_Next thing I gotta say... anyone want to volunteer up some spare time to be a beta reader for this story? Please? Because I'll admit that more than half my brain is dedicated to my other story (Monsters) at the moment, and I think I'm catching a cold or something from the stress school and my family is causing me. Can they all just shut up and let me sleep peacefully? Damn it, I'm 17! Let me sleep until noon like my anatomy tells me to! I'm not usually someone who gets stressed, I'm usually very mellow (at least calm enough, unless you give me Hawaiian Punch or coffee), but there is just so much going on at the moment that it's starting to wear on me. All I need is someone to read the chapters over in advance for me, to check for minor grammar and spelling mistakes, because, I'll tell you right now, I'm so tired at the moment that I felt like my eyes were rotting out while re-reading this chapter... And I'm going to be up even later tonight rewriting Monsters chapters!_**

**_If there is anyone who checks their email regularly (like once every couple days at the least, I'm sorry I'm so impatient and demanding like that! Especially when asking for help, too) and feels interested enough in this story to put up with me, please leave a review saying so or PM me. I can use the document transfer system (DocX is it?) or email (I have Word, to let you know) for the sending of chapters._**

**_EDIT: T_T You guys are awesome, I post this late at night and wake up the next morning to three people who offer to beta. You're all so awesome, too awesome, I will cry from relief. xD_**

**_Thanks you guys for already giving me so much support after only one chapter, I can really feel the love! You can't see it, but I'm _totally_ getting all teary-eyed over here! I hope you like this chapter just as much, if not more! And I'm sorry for the sort-of abrupt ending, I was on a roll before I realized I was writing a bit much for a single chapter! xD_**

_**Chapter 2**_

After ringing the bell a couple times at the gate, a butler finally let him in, making him sigh at his own act of idiocy for forgetting everything important that he carried on him, and to accidentally leave it in the hands of Sora Evans of all people, too, who knows what that guy would do with his wallet and cell phone!

He forgot about it, and the fact that the maids were giggling at him in his PE clothes, as he ran up to his room to change into his uniform. He threw his closet doors open and looked through the hanging clothes, but felt the irritated scowl tugging at his lips as he realized that it was gone.

Who the hell would steal his uniform?

… Naminé.

_**YET ANOTHER AWESOME LINE AIN'T IT AMAZING BOW DOWN AT IT'S KNEES**_

"Hey, kid…" Sora jumped as he felt something cool and wet prod at his cheek, snapping his eyes open to see a can in front of his face, making him reach up to grab it and look at it better, he realized he took it from another grasp, he blinked slowly and looked over to see Auron sitting back into his seat, "You can have one, but then you get to bed."

Sora yawned loudly; nodding and looking down to see the can was beer, he opened the can and leaned back in the chair again to look up at the moon. It was almost directly over him now, so it was probably the dead of night now. He still had to iron Roxas's uniform and do his homework, maybe he could pretend to get drunk and use a hangover as an excuse not to show up tomorrow?

… Nah, he was too tired to bother, and Auron would never believe that he could get drunk from one can anyways. He sipped idly at the can, scrunching his nose up at the taste, he really didn't want any, to tell the truth, but Auron was rarely generous with his beer, so… He'd accept it. Turning his attention to his uncle, he wondered what the man wanted to talk about, they hadn't really spoken to each other since Sora got out there, and they had probably just been sitting in silence for about an hour before he fell asleep.

"Hey, Vanitas said you wanted to talk to me."

Auron nodded, then sighed, "How's school?"

"Fun, I guess," Sora shrugged, "My last year."

Auron nodded again, and then looked over at the brunette, "I can't afford to pay for any Ivy League schools, kid, even if you get accepted, you'd have to get a damn good scholarship."

Sora grinned, shrugging it off, "I wouldn't want to go to one of them anyways, I'm tired of rich, pompous assholes. I'll just get a free ride to an average one."

Auron grumbled something, then pushed himself off the plastic chair, looking down at the teen, "… Do what makes you feel right. It's your life to make."

Sora didn't say anything, just watched him as the man walked back into the house, listening as he heard him tell Vanitas to go to bed. Blinking large sapphire eyes, he stared at the grass underneath his feet for a couple minutes, his mind not really thinking as he unconsciously sipped at the beer. Auron had been taking care of him since he was a kid; always telling him to do what he felt would make him happy.

He'd never told him what would make him feel right, before, he couldn't help but wonder if that had a different meaning. He didn't think so, doing what made him happy made him feel right, didn't it? Or maybe he had been referring to his future, as in college? He really didn't mind going to an average one, he still didn't know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he figured he would take it as it came to him, it's what he'd always done, and it had always worked. He didn't see anything different from doing what made him happy and what made him feel right.

He shook the thoughts from his head and stood from the chair, walking across the backyard and back into the living room, seeing Vanitas passed-out on the couch with the TV still on. He reached over and hit the power button on the remote, figuring he would at least save their cable bill, and then walked over to the kitchen, dumping the rest of the beer into the sink and just dropping the can in. He grabbed his bags by the door and walked back into the living room, giving another glance at Vanitas to see his position hadn't changed, then turned off the overhead light and began heading up the stairs in the dark.

His room was the first on the right; it was small, not exactly a closet but… maybe a small walk-in closet? The hard wood floor was cushioned beneath his feet by dirty clothing that he would leave there, and the walls were covered by concert posters for bands he had seen, the only furniture in the room being his fold up bed across from him, the bedside "table" (a plastic crate from behind the restaurant next to Cid's) under the window covered by a black bedsheet with CD's stacked on it, and a dresser at the end of the bed with a stereo on it. It was all he could fit in his room, to tell the truth, it was only two steps from the door to his bed. He liked his room, though, it was _cozy_.

Yeah, that was bullshit.

He quietly shut the door behind him and dropped the bags on the floor, stripped off his clothes, and fell onto his bed, sighing in relief as he buried his face into his pillow. He would go to school late tomorrow, so he could sleep and iron Roxas's uniform in the morning.

**_SOROX-ROXSOR-WHICH DO YOU THINK THE STORY WILL BE 'CUZ I DON'T KNOW_**

Roxas's gaze swept over the immaculate white living room, eyes looking for one specific person who always managed to blend in much too well in this room. The walls were painted black, but the carpet, coffee table, rectangular sofas, everything, even the TV, were pure white, making his pale sister, always dressed in equally pure white, seem to be camouflaged in such a room such as this. She had always loved this room, though, spent most of her time in it, and Roxas just couldn't figure out why.

There were no windows; he would go absolutely crazy if he had to stay in a room like this for too long. Of course, even with the knowledge that it would make him beyond just uncomfortable, his parents still designed the house so that the main living room would be in the exact center of the second floor of their mansion. Surrounding the room itself was a giant hallway painted in warm golden colors, the arched ceiling having painted adaptations from the bible done by professionals, and the floor was tan-colored stone covered with a passionate red rug all around. There was an elegantly crafted white door (oak wood on the outside) door out into said hallway on every wall in the room except one, where the TV stood in the exact center, and on the other side of that wall, in the hallway, there was an entrance to go out on a rather large stone porch that overlooked the patio and allowed you to see some of their backyard, or rather, their forest-like garden.

The first floor was mostly made up of the "Entrance Hall," but Roxas thought of it more as a room, as there is a smaller room where people come in and are greeted, then hang their coats and such before exiting out into another huge room that takes up mostly the entire first floor, except for small parlors on both sides of it, then center piece being the extremely elegant staircase they adapted from Victorian times, deciding to put intricate designs into every part of it, including the steps, so some people would even feel a bit guilty about stepping on such beautiful work. Well, those people weren't Roxas.

Sighing to himself when he didn't spot his sister, he left the room quickly to walk to the elevator, deciding he didn't feel like walking up one of the spiral staircase to the third floor. Stepping into the elevator, he jabbed the button for his floor and ignored the music, what sounded like a recording of some piano player from Italy whose concert his mother once made him attend, and the trip ate up three school days, too. He leaned back against the marble wall and glared at the black carpet beneath his feet. He had come home to dress in his extra uniform and return to school for his Student Council meeting, but had found it missing from his closet. True, he probably should have had more fore-sight to buy more than just one uniform, but last year he had grown quite a bit and had wasted quite a lot of money on repeatedly buying numerous pairs of uniforms that would fit him.

He was disappointed to think that maybe this was it for his height, a mere 5'4", because he had not grown at all since last summer, and maybe it was finally time to buy more uniforms again. Although, no matter how fast rush delivery is, it could only get to him by tomorrow, so he would have to find his other uniform for now. He knew the maids had cleaned it yesterday, he remembered seeing it freshly ironed and hanging in his closet beside his other this morning, but it was no longer there. And knowing both of his parents were in Russia at the moment, the only other person who could possibly have any idea where it is would be…

Naminé.

The doors slid open to greet him with the sight of a rather simple hallway, a surprising idea in a house designed by his parents, but it was a much smaller hallway than usual, so he assumed they just didn't see the point in making something so "narrow" so grand. In all honesty, Roxas didn't find it narrow at all, he rather liked it compared to the other designs in the house, it was a simple white walled, oak wooden floor room, on the right were the double wooden doors (also oak, it seemed his parents had a bit of a fetish) that led to his room, on the left were identical doors that lead to his sister's room, and straight down the middle, with twice as much space as their children's bedrooms, were the double wooden doors, with flowing golden vines decorating the border, to his parent's room.

He immediately walked up to his sister's door and opened it, seeing nothing but the usual pure white couches, table, rug, walls, curtains, chandelier, and beautiful paintings done by artist's Roxas could never hope to properly remember in the front room, he immediately walked up to the door to her bedroom and knocked softly. Hearing no response, he stepped inside to see her white canopy bed and end tables with a soft, plush looking white corner couch by a bayside window. So he instead focused on the door to her dressing room and walked over to knock on that, knowing the layout of the room as it was the mirror image of his own, directly across from the door to the dressing room would be the door to the bathroom, and he sincerely hoped she would be in one of those two rooms and, hopefully, either with his uniform or knowing of its whereabouts…

Finally, though, he knocked on the dressing room door and heard a "come in," making him sigh with relief until he actually followed the order. Stepping inside greeted him with the sight of his older sister checking herself out in the mirror (or actually, a wall of mirrors), and she was in _his_ uniform. Not her own, _his_. Well, at least he found it, "Nam… Why are you in my uniform?"

She spun to look at him in surprise, then looked down to his PE clothes, scrunching up her nose at the black tank and white shorts, the school's crest embroidered in sapphire string on the right side over his chest, and in the bottom corner of the right short's leg, "Why are you dressed in that?" It wasn't that she disliked the design particularly, but rather the idea of the PE clothes, the association to all things sweaty and dirty and disgusting.

Roxas scowled at that, "Because you have my other uniform and my first one is wet."

"How'd it get wet?" She asked it like it was a ridiculous statement, but she was someone who was born with the grace of a heron, in fact, she could probably stand on one leg for just as long, too. He gave a dramatic sigh and finally consented to walking completely into the room, walking behind her and collapsing in the white leather chair, he sighed as he saw himself reflected in the mirror. She also glanced at his reflection, raising an eyebrow at his behavior, "Hm? … Ooooh, you were bullied, weren't you? Oh, poor little Roxas!"

"Hey, you're the same height as me!"

"That's why I can call you small!" She grinned, and then turned around to properly look at him, "So what happened, really? You're not the type to be bullied so easily, and that school isn't the type to have bullies that would toss you in a pond."

"It was a fountain, and it was only one person, and he didn't 'toss' me, he pushed me."

"Wow, so you really were bullied? Just how big was the guy?"

"Just forget about that! Why are you wearing my uniform? Give it back!" Roxas snapped, making the girl frown at him.

She shrugged and nodded towards the door, giving him the signal to leave, but she called out to him the second before he was about to go back into her bedroom, "No! The bathroom, have you seen yourself? You look like a mess!"

Scrunching his nose up in annoyance, he made an aggravated noise before quickly walking into the bathroom, closing the door behind him to look around the white restroom. It was a typical bathroom, exactly alike to his, except his was black and white, like his dressing room and front room, but his bedroom were warm twilight colors, they comforted him more, and he had a wooden floor, not oak, although he doesn't remember what type of wood it is anymore, not that it mattered, as long as it wasn't oak he didn't care too much particularly. His wallpaper was a vintage design of dark yellow that matched his bed's sheets perfectly, with worn orange drapes and wooden bookcases lining his walls that matched his floor.

All the white in Naminé's rooms though, they were so uncomfortable, at least have some contrast. Either way, it didn't matter too much, as he wasn't spending much time here anyways. So he walked up to the mirror to roll his eyes at what Naminé would call "a mess," sure, his hair was wildly unkempt at the moment because it had gotten wet and he doesn't carry his gel around with him, and he did look a little tired, but those were things to be expected after you're shoved in a fountain! She made it sound like he had fallen off a cliff or something.

Sighing to himself, he turned the handle on the sink, letting it run over his fingers for a moment before filling his hands and splashing it over his face, running his wet fingers through his hair to style it at least a bit like he normally does. He turned the water off and looked over to the small white clock about a foot away from the sink, on the counter. It was already 3:30, Student Council would end in about an hour, was it really worth getting redressed and making the half-hour walk back just for the last half-hour of the meeting? It wouldn't look good if he skipped, but everyone knew that he had a damn good excuse for it.

A tough decision it would have been if he hadn't remembered Olette telling him to just go home and rest. Most likely, she had already told everyone that he would, understandably, not be attending the meeting, it would just be a bad impression on Olette if he did show up now. He sighed deeply and looked back up at himself in the mirror, scowling at his reflection, he really did look exhausted… He should just go to bed early tonight.

He turned and knocked on the door to the dressing room, opening it as he heard Naminé's "come in" to see his uniform lying, neatly folded on the chair he had been sitting in. He looked over to his sister to see her in her usual white sundress, brushing her hair slowly in the mirror, he nodded and grabbed the uniform, about to just leave and go to hang the clothing back up in his room when she stopped him, "Hey, Rox, why did that guy push you in the fountain?"

He looked at her and thought for a moment, then shrugged, "Something about the Advisory Meetings I'm trying to set up at our school, I guess he thinks they resemble AA Meetings too much. It's immature for him to react like that, either way, though, I don't like the idea of them either, but they have become more popular in some schools recently, and the reputation of those schools have been looking good because of them. I don't mind giving up about 20 minutes of my school day once a week to sit in a circle and listen to people complaints."

Naminé smiled at him, a fond amusement in her eyes, "Ah, right, because the only thing you care about it is the school's reputation and how it looks on you. Are you going to act this way at college, too? I don't know if it'll be as appreciated there, most people don't care as much."

He shrugged, "I want to go to an Ivy League school, maybe Cornell. I shouldn't have to try and boost their reputation."

Naminé sighed heavily, making him think that the conversation was over, so he moved to leave the room, just getting his hand on the doorknob before she spoke again, "Cornell had a high suicide rating."

He blinked in surprise and then looked over at her, "Nam… That was pretty creepy."

"Shut up."

He sighed and gave her a smile, "You don't have to worry about me, I'm not going to commit suicide, I don't have any idea why you would think I would," She didn't reply, but he could see the way her eyebrows came together helplessly by the reflection in the mirrors as she continued brushing, making his forced smile fall back down again, "… I'm going to take a nap, wake me up for dinner?"

She nodded quickly as he left the room, leaving the girl alone, she finally stopped brushing the same couple strands of her hair and backed up to sit down in the chair Roxas had been in, sighing deeply to herself. She brought her legs up to wrap her arms around them and stared at her reflecting in the mirror.

It wasn't that she thought he would commit suicide, maybe, but… That kind of environment, that kind of stress he would be living under, he did it to himself, choosing to go to the difficult private school, choosing to go to an Ivy League, believing he had to be the top of his class, that his application to his colleges had to look the most impressive. She hadn't been like that, she went to a private school, sure, but it hadn't been as difficult as the one Roxas decided on, and she chose an average college after that, in the end. She didn't understand why Roxas needed to make himself the best, though, why he put himself through so much like this.

How did he expect himself to be happy from this?

**_OH YEAH IT'S ANOTHER AWESOME LINE IT WILL ROCK YOUR SOCKS TO MARS_**

Sora groaned as he rolled over in his bed, hugging his pillow in a grip that would most likely suffocate a human, he scrunched his nose up at the idea of having to wake-up, but he got this pit in his stomach that told him it was a school day and he was majorly late. So he grumbled and sat up in his bed, squinting his eyes as he looked around his small messy room in the dim light that the rising sun managed to get through the bed sheet tacked up to his window as a curtain. He sighed and glanced over to his bedside table, spotting Roxas's cell phone on top of a small pile of CD's, he grabbed it to glance at the time and smack his face in defeat.

7:30. No, it wasn't exactly late, per say, school should have started about half an hour ago, so it was first period at the moment, but the problem was that it takes him two hours to get to school walking, about an hour if he scrounged up the money to pay for bus fair. Yeah, he had decided last night that he would just be late to school today, but what a pain in the ass, it just wasn't worth it!

Well, missing one day of school wouldn't be that bad, right? Roxas could survive a day without his uniform, he said he had a spare anyways…

With that in mind, the brunette fell back into his bed, curled up against his pillow, and promptly passed-out, completely ignorant of the irritation he was causing a certain blonde haired teen so early in the morning at their school.

Roxas sat at his desk, leaning back with his arms crossed as he glared at the screen of his laptop in front of him, the teacher going on about something to do with pig fetus dissection (yeah, he regretted taking Anatomy), all his thoughts were focused to sending some kind of killing subliminal message to Sora from across town. Sure, he didn't actually believe something like that was possible, but the rage that boiled in him from realizing this morning that Sora didn't show up to school with his cell, wallet and keys made him ready to believe in anything that could possibly harm the brunette.

His foot tapped anxiously under his desk, most likely irritating some other uptight prick around him, but he just didn't give a damn at the moment, a scowl seeming to be permanently fixated to his face as he thought of what the idiot could be doing with his stuff right now. Probably running his phone bill up, spending all the money in his wallet and charging things to his pre-paid credit card, and his keys… Well, the service at his home wouldn't let Sora in, even if he did have a key, so he, at least, didn't have to worry about that.

Biting his lip again, he glared at the time in the corner of his computer screen, watching the number change from 7:46 to 7:47, ending up just glaring harder at it. If Sora didn't show up today, the only thing Roxas would be able to do was go to him… Which would mean figuring out where he lived.

He couldn't ask the office, that information wasn't given out to students, so he would have to ask around, probably someone who knew Sora well enough. That would just lead him to Riku or Kairi, though, and talking to either of those people wasn't something that Roxas was looking forward to, especially since they would ask him why he wanted to see Sora and then probably laugh in his face. Was there anyone else who would know where Sora lived, though? Maybe Pence could hack into the school's system and find it, Roxas didn't exactly know how something like that worked, but it seemed like a reasonable idea to him…

He glanced up at the bored, running his eyes over what the teacher was writing on the SmartBoard, recognizing it from the chapter he had studied last night, he relaxed as he knew he understood what she was going over and it was fine if his attention was distracted for a bit. He clicked on the symbol for Google Chrome on his laptop, waiting a couple seconds for the web browser to pop-up and load his homepage, the site his email was on. He immediately went to the address bar to go to AIM though.

Reaching said page and logging in quickly, he set up a chat box with Pence and typed quickly, _"can you get me Sora Evans address?"_

Pence was always on AIM (so was Olette, to talk during class to her friends, but Hayner barely knew how to use the site, Roxas wasn't as good as the first two at it, but he at least knew more than Hayner), so he didn't worry about having to wait too long before getting a reply, _"y u want it?"_

"_he has my cell, wallet and keys"_

"_how the hell did he get that?"_

"_he was supposed to dry clean my uniform yesterday and bring it in today as part of his punishment, I forgot my stuff in the pockets and he didn't show up today"_

"_so u want 2 go 2 him?"_ Roxas hated text speak with an unbearable passion, and Pence knew this, but he at least toned it down for the blonde when they communicated in such a way, which he appreciated, mostly because he wouldn't understand Pence's messages otherwise.

"_yes, can you get the address from the school?"_

"_that's confidential info, it'd be hard but I can, wait a sec…"_

Roxas sighed quietly and sat back in his seat, minimizing the AIM window and look up at the SmartBoard, watching the teacher continue explaining formulas, he paid some attention to the lesson, but he found himself spending more attention on watching the bar at the bottom of the screen, watching the AIM message box and waiting for it to start flashing, to tell him Pence was done. He flinched as he felt a sharp poke to the spot between his shoulder blades, making him look over his shoulder at Hayner. The blonde was looking right past him to his screen, then up at him with an accusing gaze.

Roxas rolled his eyes, pulling up the Microsoft Word page and changing the font to 24, he typed, _"I'll tell you later."_

He could hear Hayner huff in irritation, but he ignored him, hand snapping back to his mouse as his eyes caught on the flashing box on the bar, he clicked on it and read the line quickly, _"He lives in Hollow Bastion, the address listed isnt a home, tho. Did u no he's a scholarship student?"_

"_No. Thanks though, can you give me the address?"_

He pulled a pen from his bag and spun around, ripping a corner off of Hayner's paper of notes (the guy just isn't technologically savvy, he's old fashioned), ignoring the hiss of protest he received and wrote the numbers and name of Sora's place of living before folding the paper up and stuffing it in his pocket. He received a few jabs to his back from Hayner's pencil but ignored them as he typed back his thanks to Pence, closing the window just in time before, "Mr. Casey, I'd expect better from the top student in the class."

Roxas's eyes widened as he snapped his attention to his teacher, standing directly in front of him with a grimace that could compete with Oscar from Sesame Street. He smiled back sheepishly, "Sorry, ma'am," She nodded and turned back to walk to the front of the class, continuing whatever it was that she was lecturing about, leaving Roxas to frown at Hayner over his shoulder, but the blonde just smirked at him, shrugging.

Dick.

**_STILL USING MY GHETTO LINES JUST IGNORE IT'S GODLINESS MOVE ALONG_**

"_That I, I, I, I'm so hard,(so hard), Ah yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so hard (too hard), That I, I, I, I'm so hard,(so hard), Ah yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so hard (too hard), That I, I, I, I'm so hard,(so hard), Ah yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so hard (too hard), So hard, so hard, so hard, so hard-"_

"Someone WILL die if they don't SHUT THAT GOD DAMN MUSIC OFF!" Sora could barely breath with his face shoved into his pillow like it was, but if suffocation was the only way for him to return to his peaceful unconscious state from before, then he will do it, don't think he won't.

Thumps from downstairs were heard, but the music continued, the thumps eventually finding their way up the stairs and to his room, his door being thrown open with one final thump as Sora finally quit trying to suffocate himself, whoever had woke him up would probably stop him anyways, looking over his shoulder and across the couple of feet to his door, standing over a pair of jeans and some boxers that he believes he wore last week, was Vanitas, his eyebrow raised as he stared at his cousin, "Why the fuck are you still in bed? Dumbass, you're supposed to be at school!"

Sora's sapphire eyes were squinty as he glared at his cousin, scowling, "Yeah, I know, but I'm not, so get the fuck out."

Vanitas huffed as the teen on the bed let his head collapse back into his pillow, then smirked evilly as he walked across the room and snapped the waistband of the boy's boxers, making the brunette yelp and roll away from him, "So you're skipping? Hm, Dad's gonna be pissed if he finds out…"

Sora managed to fit in a glare before he launched himself at the other teen, tackling him to his dirty bedroom floor, hearing something crack underneath them as they landed. Vanitas grunted and hooked his arms around Sora's neck, holding him in place as the boy struggled before Sora started to punch his stomach, making the black-haired teen let him go. Vanitas pushed the brunette off before standing again and pushing the tired teen down with his foot on his back, Vanitas snickered at him before fixing his black sweatshirt and pulling up his baggy jeans (he probably had his laundry mixed up with Auron again).

Sora groaned and just laid on the floor, too tired to really resist anymore, making Vanitas frown at him, "Hmph, what's the matter with you now? Sick?" Sora grumbled and rolled away quickly, snatching Vanitas's ankle and tugging him to land on the floor next to him with a bang, "Fuck you mother-"

"No, fuck your mother!" Sora huffed and jumped up, stumbling over the teen on the floor to make his way over to the small dresser at the end of his bed, tugging it open to grab clothes and tug those on.

"I don't know my mother!" Vanitas snapped back, getting back up to adjust his clothing. He definitely got Auron's, everything was too big, he should probably go get changed into something else, he didn't want to flash everyone his boxers.

"Well I don't know mine either!" Sora sighed, finishing dressing, the random clothes he had pulled from his dresser leaving him with a black long-sleeved shirt, a sleeveless sweatshirt over that, and tan cargo pants, he fished his crown necklace out from under the shirt (because he only took is off for showers) and checked the waterproof dog collar to make sure his dad's dog tags were straight (he never took those off).

"You just don't remember her," Vanitas pushed him to the side and started stripping off his clothes, "Lemme borrow some clothes, I don't have any clean."

Sora grunted and grabbed his brush, tugging it through his hair wildly, making a potential hazard of himself, before carefully brushing his bangs in the direction he wanted them, then threw the brush back on the dresser, "Was she nice?"

Vanitas thought for a moment, half way through pulling a pair of Sora's jeans on, then pulled them up fully, tugged on another sleeveless gray sweatshirt and forgetting to put a shirt under it, then turned to walk out of the room, "No, she was a bitch."

Sora stared after him a moment, then shrugged, it didn't really matter to him, what his mother was like. From what he had been told, she took off, leaving him with Auron. When he was 9, some guy came to tell Sora that she had died in a car accident. He didn't attend the funeral; he didn't actually know her, or at least felt like he didn't know her, and she had abandoned him anyhow, so he figured she didn't want him around. He wasn't hurt by that thought, though; he had Auron, Vanitas and his father for family.

His father had been drafted into the army when he was a baby, but would send letters to Sora that Auron would read him until he was old enough to do it himself and write back, too. His dad died from friendly fire when he was 13, his funeral he did attend, and that night he came home, went to a pet store and bought a cheap, black, waterproof dog collar, hooked his dad's dog tags on them, and he hasn't taken them off since. Although, now that he was older, he felt like the collar was a bit too restrictive for breathing, and was thinking about exchanging it with a chain choker instead.

Nothing too expensive, something that wouldn't rust, at least.

Sighing to himself, he glanced over to his door to see his school bag and a plastic bag next to the door, making him remember that he had to iron Roxas's uniform and do his homework, still. He scratched the back of his head as he stared at the bags, then grabbed Roxas's cell phone from its perch on top of a pile of CD's, glancing at the time. 1:15, school would be out in about an hour, so it would be pointless for him to go there, even if he could probably catch Roxas during one of his club meetings or something, like Student Council or… Tennis… what a gay sport.

He stuffed the cell into his pocket and left the messy room, figuring he would eat, iron Roxas's uniform, do his homework and then call Riku and Kairi to see if they wanted to hang out. Practically falling down the stairs, he ignored the sight of the random blonde guy on his couch and immediately walked towards the kitchen until the guy called out to him, "Uh, Vanitas?" Sora stopped and looked over his shoulder, just to walk into the wall next to the threshold in his shock.

He stumbled back, clutching his head before blinking in the direction of the blonde boy looking at him in concern, "R… Roxas?"

"Huh, uh, no, he's my cousin, I'm Ventus."

"… Oh… Uh, Sora."

"H-Hi."

"Yeah…" The brunette stood there awkwardly for a moment before ducking into the kitchen quickly, silently praying that Ventus wouldn't happen to be Vanitas's newest toy, it would just be too weird having him around, what with his face being nearly identical to Roxas's. It was one thing for Vanitas to bring random guys home and dating them for a week or so before dumping them and switching, he'd been doing that regularly since he started college about a year ago, but it was a completely different thing if one of those guys looked like someone he knew!

Sitting on the kitchen floor, between the buckets for paper and plastic recycling, legs stretched out in front of him as he munched on his Cocoa Puffs, he let a contemplative look cross his face. If there was one thing Sora never let himself worry about, it was doing something he regretted or something someone else would find shameful, he only did what he wanted, what he thought would work out well for him, so he never felt like he needed to be embarrassed or regretful. But Auron's words from the night before rang in his head a bit loudly as he contemplated his contemplative state and wondered if his actions now would be something shameful or regretful to himself in the future, or if he would look back on it with the same attitude.

Furthermore, was what he was contemplating going to _make_ him regretful or ashamed in the future, but… It would be an experiment, a test, to become sure of something before he went too far to turn back around again. Half the bowl eaten already, he jumped up, ignored the fact he dripped some chocolate milk on the floor, and put the bowl on the counter before dashing out into the living room again. Vanitas was just coming down the stairs having, apparently, finished throwing on some necklaces and better gauges for his ears, and Ventus was standing now and looking at Vanitas in confusion before he turned his attention to Sora.

The brunette looked straight into the blonde's cerulean eyes, holding the moment still for what felt like an hour, then sighed in disappointment and walked back into the kitchen, "Never mind," It wasn't the same at all, those eyes weren't baby blue, it was a subtle difference, but it was a big difference, it would just be too different, so he went back to eating his Cocoa Puffs.

Vanitas's head popped into the kitchen, eyes glaring at the brunette, "You wouldn't have had a chance anyways. I'm going to warm him up then bang him, might not be home tonight, Dad's working late, too," Sora huffed and glared back at him. "Warm up" meant, in a normal person's dictionary, that he was taking him on a date, and Sora guessed Ventus wasn't someone Vanitas was planning on sticking with if he was in such a rush to fuck him.

Vanitas walked past the threshold into the kitchen, heading for the front door with a tight grip on Ventus's hand, practically dragging the blonde behind him. Sora ignored them and looked over to the clock on the wall above the sink, seeing there was about half an hour left of school, so he flipped open Roxas's phone and began setting up a text to send to Kairi to ask her if her and Riku would wanna hang out (he only needed to text one of them to get a message to both of them), he was sure Roxas wouldn't mind him sending _one_ text…

While he was at it, he also searched the blonde's inbox for anything interesting, _that_ he would probably mind, but he didn't have to know.

Going through the messages quickly, it was mostly just talk between him and those three other people he hangs around with about school and such, and a couple awkward texts to some random people here and there, like they were just proving to themselves that they still knew each other. Lame. Standing to throw his bowl in the sink, he got a text back suddenly, and glanced at the screen to read it.

"_we r outside ur place open up"_


	3. Chapter 3

**_The morning I wrote this, I woke up to the sound of "Sexy, Naughty, Bitchy" by Tata Young, a song about a personality I don't personally like, but it's incredibly catchy, and then I realized that it matched Kairi in this story! :D_**

**_Anyways, sorry this took longer than intended, I had finished it yesterday afternoon, but by the time I got them back from my life-saving betas (Loves Ironic Tragedy and MonkehPlushies should get an award, this chapter was like a battle-field with all the mistakes I had made), I realized that all the soda I had been drinking _wasn't _caffeinated, and I promptly passed-out. So I figured I would go over what they sent back to me this morning, but then I woke-up late... Then I thought, I'll do it during my VHS class, because I get some free time in that period, but then I realized how much work I was being assigned on THE FIRST DAY. So, I promised myself I would go over it when I got home, and I did, the moment I got in the door... Then my dad was like, "Let's go out to eat!" And we went down the street to a Chinese Restaurant, ate for an hour (I think my stomach exploded) and then I rushed back here to finish this... AND IT'S FINALLY UP!_**

**_P.S. If you spot a word that is bolded that doesn't appear to have any reason to be bolded, it's probably a mistake my computer made, for some reason it did that, but I hope I corrected them all._**

**_P.S.S. I hate the "F-word," not fuck-I love fuck-the one that refers to gays, and even though this is a fictional story, it still just pisses me off too much to use it, so I looked up a list of swears (I was drawing blanks and starting to make up new ones that didn't make sense) and found an entire dictionary, starting at "A!" :D Like, half of them refer to homosexuals, though, which still pissed me off, but it fit the needs of the story. So I chose a random one and stuck it in… _**

**_Chapter 3_**

He was lost, he was majorly lost, hopelessly lost, and to make everything worse, he was lost in _Hollow Bastion_. He was going to be mugged, gang raped, and killed in an alley in this kind of place.

Fists once again stuffed into his pockets, he chewed on his bottom lip nervously as he quickly walked down the sidewalk, mostly being ignored like anyone else walking down a city street, but occasionally getting checked out from head to toe by some of the shadier people on door stoops, and in the openings of alleyways, making him give a wide berth to all of these places. He swore to himself, annoyance with his stupid forgetfulness building**. **He left the school immediately after classes (skipping Tennis practice), to catch a bus for Hollow Bastion, only to get there and realize he didn't have the GPS in his phone anymore… Because Sora has his phone, meaning he also couldn't call for a ride, and every time he passed a pay phone, there would either be some homeless guy by them or some ladies who looked like they had some less than pure intentions…

He sighed to himself, looking up at his surroundings again, wondering if he should just run into some store and ask for directions back to Radiant Gardens. He could just wait for Sora to bring his uniform back, but, then again, he also had his cell, wallet, and keys. He needed that stuff! Like now, for example! He could seriously use the GPS on his cell at the moment!

Glancing up into the window of what looked like a hair salon**,** (it didn't have a sign or anything stating so, but the numerous pictures of hairstyles covering the window suggested it) he gulped as he saw some woman with skirts a bit too short, and hair a little too fluffy and… since when was Hollow Bastion some kind of "Jersey Shore" stereotype? His eyes caught onto one pink-haired… man? A shiver ran through him at the thought of that pink haired person being a man, mostly because he was in a short dress and that would probably mean…

Soooo, he wasn't going in there.

A flash of light in a reflection of the window caught his eyes though, making him study it for a moment. Three tall men stood across the street behind him, seeming to be talking and chuckling to themselves a bit before one of them flashed a butterfly knife from his pocket, making Roxas's heart skip a beat at the thought of what they could be using that knife for in the future. That simple skipped beat turned into several skipped beats, though, as they gestured over towards his direction, making his eyes widen as he ducked into the hair salon. Heart beating wildly, he almost screamed when a woman greeted him, instead just jumping a foot or so.

The black-haired girl's (she looked Asian from what he could tell, maybe Japanese) eyes widened in concern as she placed a hand on the nervous boy's shoulder, "Hey, are you alright, kid? You don't look too good…"

Roxas nodded quickly, focusing his gaze straight to the floor the moment his brain registered just what this girl was wearing. Short-shorts, a Hawaiian patterned belly shirt and a black vest over that, and **its** fall! Sure, it wasn't exactly cool down in Hollow Bastion, but, still, dress seasonally appropriate!

"Are you sure? You're really pale, and-hey, are you shaking? You don't have some crazy medical condition do you? Because if you're gonna have a seizure or something, then we have to get out of the shop, that shit is bad for business, you know? Hey, do you want me to call an ambulance, do you need one?"

Roxas shook his head even quicker, feeling a little dizzy from the sudden motion, about to tell her he didn't need any help (except maybe the police), but was cut off… by the transvestite, "Hey, Yuf, what's going on? That Russian chick is still waiting for you."

"Huh, oh, sorry Marly, this kid came in, I think he might be sick or something," _I'M NOT SICK, LEAVE ME ALONE_, "Hey, you don't think we're gonna have to call an ambulance or something, do you?"

He heard the pink haired man sigh in what seemed to be exasperation, "Don't jump to extremes like that, look at him, he's not from around here, he's probably just lost or something. Hey, kid, where d'ya need to be?"

Roxas glanced up hesitantly, gulped and pulled the sheet of paper out from his pocket, handing it over to the man, "I-I, um, I wanted to see my… _friend._" That last word came out as a hiss from behind his teeth, but they didn't seem to notice as they looked over the small piece of paper and the scribbled writing on it.

The girl's face lit up suddenly, "Hey, isn't that Cid's place? Oh, I can take you there, it's, like, only a block over!" Cid? Who the fuck is Cid?

About to become more specific about _who_ he wanted to see, he didn't get the chance as the (maybe?) transvestite turned to look at him, pinning him under a scrutinizing gaze. Something about this guy told Roxas that he wasn't often criticized for his sexuality, but it could've been the glare he was currently getting, he'd never seen something so fucking scary, but then he shoved the scrap of paper back into the blonde's hand and huffed, "Well, fine, you drag him over there, then you get your ass back here, I'll cover the Russian chick for you."

She grinned wildly and saluted, "Yes, sir, Marly, sir!"

Before he could get the chance to protest, he found his arm being tightly gripped in some kind of death hold in the girl's hand, making him stumble slightly as he jogged to keep up with her quick pace, his messenger bag hitting the back of his leg awkwardly. He was about to ask her who Cid was in the first place when movement from the corner of his eye made him glance over, the three guys that had scared him into the salon in the first place walking in the same direction as them, some feet behind, on the same side of the street this time. He gulped, turning back around and walking much faster than before, actually managing to keep up with the black-haired girl who smiled at him again, "So I guess this friend of yours is Cid? Or Axel? Well, don't worry, it'll only take a minute to get there. You were really close! I'm Yuffie by the way, and that guy with pink hair was Marluxia. He's not a tranny, if you were wondering."

Actually, he was more concerned with the potential muggers following them, possible murderers/rapists, yeah, those caught his attention just a bit more, but, hey, it's nice to know that "Marly" is just your average, run of the mill, cross dresser.

"It's not really all **too** often we see kids with uniforms like you around here, you a scholarship kid like Sora? Oh, do you know Sora? You look like you're about the same age; at least, maybe you know Riku or Kairi? I'm pretty sure that's the same uniform as the school they go to," They turned a corner at lightning speed, giving Roxas the chance to peek over his shoulder at the men following them, gulping hard when he realized they were getting closer, "Alright, if we just cut through this alley, then-" Alley? What was this, some kind of set up? Was she purposefully choosing the dangerous places to walk?

He was dragged into the alley, her grip on his arm still tight as they sped-walked across the concrete, Roxas scrunching his nose up at the sight of a ratty mattress next to a dumpster, he severely hoped that was not someone's bed anymore. However, he didn't have much time to dwell on that thought as they heard a yell from behind them, "Hey, you two, wallets and cell, right now."

Roxas froze in his spot, wondering if they would even believe him if he said he didn't have either on him, or if he was going to end up being a dead body in that dumpster, but Yuffie just glanced over her shoulder at them and huffed, turning back and continuing to walk and drag Roxas along. Unfortunately, the muggers didn't seem to like her attitude, Roxas looked back at them just in time to see the guy from before, with a knife in hand, run up behind Yuffie to make a jab into her back. Then the grip on his arm was gone, instead on the guy's wrist as she spun around, tugged him forward, and let her foot greet his nose. She let him go the moment he dropped the knife, snatching it off the ground and grabbing Roxas again before they sprinted away.

She looked over her shoulder long enough to shout one thing that made him want to smash his head against a brick wall, "PWNED by the GREAT NINJA YUFFIE!" Just who the fuck is this psycho?

His heart was in his throat again as they sprinted, he could clearly hear the other two guys chasing after them, but the moment they dashed out of the alley and into the street (without looking both ways, he noted, he definitely wasn't planning to visit Hollow Bastion again without a chauffeur at the very least), blaring horns covered all other noises, and he was slightly thankful Yuffie's grip was so tight now, because if she let go, he'd probably be too scared to move. It felt like seconds before he was suddenly standing, dazed, and panting heavily, inside… a Laundromat?

"Axie!" Yuffie suddenly screamed, launching herself on a redheaded stick person with tattoos and piercings on his _face_, making his mind spin a bit at the sudden change in setting. Had they not just been running from muggers a moment ago? Shouldn't they still be running here? He spun around to look out the glass window in the metal door of the place, just barely seeing, through traffic into the alley they had run from across the street, the three men jogging out of it and down the street. Oh, right, they wouldn't follow them into a public place, would they? That would just be stupid…

Roxas turned his attention to the two in front of him, the black haired girl hanging from this "Axie's" neck, and quite literally (her feet weren't touching the floor), and the redhead hugging her back with a giant grin on his face, making the blonde raise an eyebrow. Okay, he was with some sort-of friendly (but dangerous) people, in a Laundromat (a thing he has never stepped a foot into before), in Hollow Bastion (_somewhere_ in Hollow Bastion), and he was _still_ desperately lost, "Um…" Yuffie and the redhead suddenly seemed to remember that he was there, and turned their attention to the shaken blonde, "Where am I?"

Yuffie pouted a bit, letting the redhead put her back on the ground as she sighed, "This was the address on that paper! You said you wanted to come here to see your friend!"

"Friend?" The redhead raised his pierced eyebrow and looked down at the blonde in front of him, or more precisely, at his uniform, "You go to that private school over in Radiant Gardens? What friends would you have down here?"

Yuffie's eyes widened as she looked at him indignantly, "Axel! That's rude! He could live down here and just be a scholarship student! Or maybe he's friends with Sora!"

"Sora!" Roxas snapped out, making them blink at him in surprise, but he ignored it as he shoved the paper at the redhead, which he realized he'd still been clutching in his hand, "I don't know who Cid is! I don't know this place! I live in Radiant Gardens! But, I need to see Sora!"

Suddenly Axel was laughing, his voice echoing off the walls and filling the room, the effect making Roxas flinch a bit, but, strangely, not feel anymore threatened. Green eyes looked down at him, making him fidget nervously as the redhead continued to chuckle and trying to speak, "Alright, alright, I get what's going on. Let me guess, Roxas, right? You're the kid Sora pushed in a fountain yesterday and you want your uniform back from him, bet you got this address from your school, didn't you?"

Yuffie frowned, "Hey, isn't it illegal for a school to give out information like that? You must've really been a smooth talker or something, kid."

"'Or something…'" Roxas mumbled back, making the redhead snicker again.

"Well, listen, I bet you never had to worry 'bout this rule so you probably weren't aware of it, but your school doesn't let in any kids whose household doesn't make a certain income, which is dumb if you ask me, because there is a reason why you have _scholarships_," Roxas's eyebrows furrowed together at that, ignoring the fact that Axel was right and he hadn't known about that rule, it wasn't something that would **have** concerned him, "So my boss, the owner of this place 'adopted' Sora about a year before he began school there so that he would be able to go. But, obviously, he doesn't live here, he lives with his uncle, Auron Evans."

Roxas's mind seemed to decide at this moment to spit out the clip of memory from his conversation with Pence earlier, making him remember how Pence had said that the address listed wasn't actually a home. God dammit, what the hell was he supposed to do now? He glanced out the window again, anxiously, watching the sunset and becoming more nervous. He should already be home by now, if Naminé was home, she would probably start getting worried about where he was, and without his cell, he had no way of calling her and telling her where he was, or getting a way to get back home. His only real chance of getting home would be to find Sora and take back his cell phone.

"Hey, you forgot your cell in that uniform Sora's got, right? He found it before he dropped it in the washing machine, so borrow mine and call home, just wait until Monday and he'll give all your stuff back, don't worry 'bout it," Roxas glanced over to the forest green phone Axel was holding out to him, his eyes wide in surprise.

He nodded slowly, mumbling a small thanks before taking it and flipping it open punching in the normal first couple numbers before he realized something very important, making him just stand there and stare at the phone angrily. Yuffie looked at him in concern again, "What's wrong?"

"I… My contacts list has all my numbers, I don't know any off the top of my head…" Axel was cracking up again, making Roxas glare and snap at him, "Hey! This isn't something to laugh at! I have a lot of stuff to remember, alright?"

"Yeah, but you never seem to remember any of it! Your cell, wallet, keys, phone numbers, do you remember anything?" Yuffie smacked the redhead's arm, scowling at him before she looked back at the blonde.

"H-hey, don't worry 'bout it, alright? Axel is an ass, but he'll bring you to Sora's place-"

"Why me?"

"-and you can use your cell to call home there. Here, take the knife that dick dropped earlier, if Axel gives you any trouble, a quick jab will put him in line, k?"

"Hey! Don't even joke like that!"

Roxas gulped as Yuffie grabbed his other hand and pushed the butterfly knife in it, feeling the fear again just from having the object in his hand. Just a few minutes ago he was being threatened with this thing! He looked up at her in shock that she was actually giving it to him, but she just continued smiling at him reassuringly, making his first impression of her: psycho ninja chick.

"Well, I gotta get back before Marly hangs me by my hair in his garden for skipping work, take care of the kid, Axie, buh-bye!" The blonde actually felt himself wish for her not to go, strangely enough, after all, she kicked ass, was nice, and wasn't glaring at him like he was the child of Satan. Axel seemed pretty disgruntled with the idea of helping him out, making the blonde scowl at him.

"Um-"

"Don't worry, kid," He suddenly sighed heavily, taking his cell back from him, "Alright, I'll take ya to Sora's place, but ya have to wait for me to close this place up for, Cid'll kill me if I don't make sure this place isn't locked up tight."

Roxas nodded quickly, backing up to take a seat in one of the plastic chairs, waiting patiently for the redhead **to** finish closing the place, unconscious of how tight his grip was on the butterfly knife.

_**I WANTED TO ADD A LINE BECAUSE IT MADE ME FEEL COOL (-beta: Loves Ironic Tragedy)**_

Sora yawned as he heard Kairi kick something into the closet in the kitchen, probably the small ironing board that wouldn't fold up properly, as he had just finished ironing Roxas's uniform and left the thing in front of the closet, not feeling like dealing with putting it away just yet. Another bang confirmed that the closet door was shut, and the ironing board was inside, but it most likely will fall and kill the next person who opened the closet.

"Sor, number 5," Riku grunted, glaring at the homework in front of him on the coffee table, making Sora glance up from his own homework and lean over to see the paper's question.

"Pancakes."

Riku glared at him, "Make your own damn food, what's the answer?"

"Make me pancakes and I'll tell you!" Sora smirked, leaning back with his notebook in his lap, scribbling the finishing (bullshitted) sentence to his essay before shoving it back in his bag and kicking it under the table. He realized Riku was still glaring at him as he was laying down on the last two cushions of the couch, ignoring the platinum blonde as he grabbed the remote and turning the TV on. Kairi came back into the living room, walking over to them before looking at the two boys on the couch, disgruntled as she looked from Riku (insistently glaring at Sora) and Sora (ignoring Riku's glare), then sat on Sora's stomach, making the brunette whine, "Kaaaaaiiiiriiii! You fat-"

Her fist connected with his chest, making him gasp for breath and stare at her incredulously, "What were you going to say?"

He blinked for a moment, then cleared his throat, "If you get up, I'll make room for you?"

She nodded, pleased smile on her face as she got up and he moved over to a single cushion, letting her sit between Riku and Sora. Riku, huffing as he realized that Sora would most likely be able to ignore his glaring for hours, was about to get up when Kairi's gaze locked onto his paper, her finger shot out to number five, "It's a trick question, there's no answer."

Sora's jaw dropped open as he gave Kairi a pathetic betrayed look, "Awww! I wanted pancakes!" He began pouting as she frowned at him.

"Make your own pancakes then, lazy ass."

"But Riku's pancakes taste better! They taste like bitter rage and resentment!" Sora smiled brightly at his two friends, who just gave him a tired look. Riku grumbled something that sounded vaguely like, "Fuck you," under his breath, making Sora snicker, "No thanks, you're not exactly my type."

Riku smirked at him, " Oh, _that's right_!**Your** type is the easily manipulated honor student with a light pole stuck up their ass."

Sora smirked back at him. "That pole won't be the only thing up his ass much for much longer," he sang.

"Uh, yeah, hi, still sitting here! Jesus, just gimme the damn remote!" Kairi pouted as they snickered at her. She snatched the remote from Sora before starting to flip through the channels, still frowning, "Hm, Riku, can we go to your house? There's nothing on here."

Sora scoffed at her. "Well,_sorry_ our poor peoples' TV doesn't suit your high-maintenance tastes, Kai."

She smiled at him teasingly. "Oh, don't be such a pussy about it, Sor, You're still special… Sorta."

He grinned at her, but the emotions in his eyes seemed to align more with a glare, "Bitch."

"Ass-jabber."

"Slut."

"Prude."

Riku glared at them, "Would you two shut up? I'm still doing homework!"

Kairi rolled her eyes at him as Sora laughed. "Dude, you're _sooo_ slow. How'd you even get into our school?"

"Shut up you little shit."

The front door slammed open suddenly, causing all three teens to snap their attention to it to see Vanitas standing in the doorway with the light pole on the street flickering ominously behind him, he slammed the door shut and stormed into the living room, kicking his shoes off and jumping over the back of the couch to squeeze into a spot between Kairi and Sora. He snatched the remote from the girl and flipped the channel to the news immediately.

The three stared at him for a moment before Sora decided to speak what was on everyone's mind, "Weren't you supposed to be fucking that Ventus guy right now?"

When no response was given, Riku snickered a bit, "Don't tell me _you_ struck-out, man!"

Vanitas snapped a burning glare at the platinum blonde, which Riku just smirked at, "I've shagged three times as many people as you, _little boy_, so don't start talking shit like you even know what you're talking about!" He hissed, making Sora raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, you _definitely _didn't get laid. What the hell happened?"

Vanitas muttered something under his breath, something that Riku and Sora missed but Kairi managed to catch, causing the girl to start laughing in hysterics, leaning over her knees as she laughed so hard. Even more curious now, Sora leaned in closer to his cousin in teasing excitement, "Wait, hold on, repeat that, come on, what'd you say?"

Vanitas turned an icy glare to the brunette before saying, loud and clear, "His virgin ass wants me to get an STD test before we go to '3rd base.'"

Sora started to shamelessly snicker at the black-haired teen as Riku snorted and followed suit, making Vanitas growl something threatening under his breath and stare intently at the TV, causing Sora to look at him curiously again, "So, why are you watching the news then?"

"I'm hoping to see a murder… If I don't see one, I might cause one, just kill some random mother fucker on the street."

"You're a sick fucked up person, you know that?" Kairi sighed, still snickering under her breath at the older guy's expense.

"I'm aware."

A knock was heard at the door, making Sora glance at it then sighed, "Riku! Door!"

The platinum blonde glared at the brunette, "What do I look like? Your fucking butler? Answer your own goddamn door!"

Sora pouted and looked at Kairi, "Kairi! Door!"

She gave him a cold stare, "I'll cut your balls off with a ladle."

"Ladle?" Sora repeated, blinking when she nodded. Vanitas made a hissing sound, a frown on his face, "That shit sounds like it would hurt, so…" Sora turned to look at Vanitas, pout still on his face, "Vani! Door!"

"Do you want to be on the news tomorrow morning? Because I can make sure the story of your murder will be a long gruesome tale spread all around the world by lunch time."

Sora groaned at that and sighed, taking a deep breath before screaming at the top of his lungs and scaring the shit out of the other people in the room, "IT'S OPEN." The other three on the couch glared at him fiercely as he smiled at them, "What?"

The door did open, though, Sora's face lighting up with excitement as he saw Axel come meandering in. He jumped off the couch to run over and throw himself on the redhead, being picked up in a giant bear hug immediately, "How's it going, Brownie? But I don't got long to hang, got class tomorrow, just dropping off a lost child. Make sure Vanitas doesn't rape him, alright?"

Vanitas snapped a glare over his shoulder at the tall man, "Shut your fucking hole before I shove my dick down _your_ throat instead, asshole!"

Axel's eyebrow rose as Sora smirked, "He got shot _down_ tonight-the first time that's happened, I think! Why you dropping off a lost kid with us, though, shouldn't you bring him to the police instead…?" Sora glanced around the redhead to look for some child that would most likely be near tears, instead seeing a pissed off blonde clutching a drawn butterfly knife. His eyes widened at the sight, then looked back at the redhead, "Can I keep him?"

Roxas snapped the knife shut as he stepped forward and glared at the other teen, "Cut the crap and give me my cell," He snapped at him, making Sora stare at him in surprise, "What? Are you going to give me my cell or not?"

Sora grinned mischievously, "It's late, why not stay the night?"

"No."

"You sure? There are muggers out there."

"Yes, I'm well aware, give me my cell."

"So you should be inside where it's safe."

Roxas sighed deeply, bringing a hand up to pinch the area between his eyes, "You are such a pain in my ass."

Riku started coughing violently suddenly (although it suspiciously sounded like laughter) as Sora snorted and tried to suppress his snickers, "Are light poles a pain in your ass, too?"

Roxas glared at him quietly, some kind of supreme raging hatred fueling the stabbing gaze, but Sora was, as usual, mostly unaffected, instead turning to look at Axel, "Where'd you find him?"

The redhead shrugged, "Yuffie found him looking for Cid's place for you, I told him what's up and brought him here," He sighed and looked down at the blonde next to him, "Listen kid, Brownie here is right, even if you're some rich brat-no, _especially_ because you're some rich brat, you should just stay inside until tomorrow morning. You call one of those butlers or whatever and get some fancy car down here to get you, and you'll get targeted by every piece of shit looking for a couple bucks, and I can tell you right now, you won't just be getting those small little groups with butterfly knives, these guys will have stuff that will mess you up for life."

Roxas scowled but sighed anyways, nodding slightly, "Fine, whatever… thanks."

Axel nodded, grinning teasingly as he dropped a hand on his head and ruffled up his hair, "Alright, I gotta get home, see ya guys."

He got various farewells as he walked out of the house, Sora walking after him to lock the door after he left, then turned to Roxas with the same grin as before, making the blonde seem to practically bristle like a cat. Sora ignored the reaction though, throwing an arm around the teen's shoulders in a faux friendly manner, "So you were actually looking for me? Aw, you were concerned I didn't show up at school today, weren't you?"

Roxas rolled his eyes and snorted, "Yeah, for my phone and wallet's sake. Like _hell_ I was going to let you hold on to those all weekend."

"Aww, you don't trust me?"

"No."

Sora pouted at him, about to reply when they jumped at a shout from the couch, looking over to see Vanitas staring wide-eyed at Roxas, "Holy shit! You look just like Ventus… Can I fuck you?"

Roxas seethed, grunting as he was suddenly dragged from the room to the kitchen by Sora's arm around his neck, glaring at the teen when he stopped dragging him, "What do you think you're doing? Let me go, and give me my cell and wallet back," Sora rolled his eyes and dug the cell from his pocket before slapping it in the boy's hand, frowning at the suspicious look on the blonde's face, "And my wallet?"

He snorted, "In the bag with your uniform, just because I'm not rich like you doesn't mean I'm going to steal all your shit, I'm not that low," Roxas colored at the accusation and turned away, huffing as he glanced at the screen to see he had a few missed calls and texts, figuring he should call his house to make sure that no one was worried over him, "You want something to eat?"

Like on a cue or something, Roxas's stomach grumbled loudly, making Sora look at him in amusement, like he was daring him to deny his hunger, making the blonde scowl as he felt his cheeks heat up a bit more. Sora smiled and reached past him, getting a little too close to the him in Roxas's opinion, but he supposed it was probably just because it was a small kitchen, "There's some pizza you can have, you want it could or warm?"

Roxas's nose scrunched up at the idea of cold, Sora noticed as he took another step forward, his chest brushing against Roxas's arm and causing the boy to take a step back, he held in his chuckle and reached in for the small pizza box he and Vanitas had ordered a day ago, putting it on the counter next to the fridge as he smirked at the blonde, making him scowl indignantly and spin around to march out of the room.

Sora felt silent laughter shake his shoulders as he threw two slices on a paper plate and stuck it in the microwave, smiling at the idea of Roxas staying over all night. Of course the first thing that popped into his head was where the teen would be sleeping, as there was no guest bed, and Vanitas would probably be up all night on the couch pouting about not getting some. He grinned as he imagined the face Roxas would make if he told him they would have to share his single bed, then imagined the face he would make after he had him trapped in it… He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, frowning, though, knowing that even if they did end up sharing a bed or something, he wouldn't do anything.

… Okay, he might feel him up a bit after he fell asleep, but nothing more than that! He wasn't some nasty pervert who would take advantage of naïve boys with nowhere to sleep. He was a nasty pervert who would take advantage of a naïve boy by _giving_ him a place to sleep.

The microwave beeped loudly suddenly and he retrieved the pizza from the machine, grabbing a piece to bite into as he walked back out in the living room to see Roxas leaning against the wall next to the sliding glass door, looking out and up at the few stars in the sky. Riku and Kairi stood from the couch, catching his attention, Kairi winked at him as Riku smirked and nodded, then they both walked to the door to leave. He nodded at them with a grin before walking over to the blonde, handing him the plate as he continued to eat his own slice, grin just growing as Roxas muttered, "Thanks."

"Hey," Vanitas snapped, standing and dropping the remote on the couch, "I'm going to bed."

Sora nodded, "Night," he was slightly disappointed at this, but he figured he should've seen something that would shoot down his plans coming anyways, that's how the world outside his imagination worked, after all. Pouting a bit, he walked back to the couch and fell back on it, grabbing the remote to turn it to MTV as he heard Roxas slowly shuffling closer to the couch to watch over it, he smirked and looked over at him, "You can sit, you know, you'll probably be sleeping here tonight."

Roxas's nose scrunched up as he looked down at the couch, scowl on his face, "No spare bed or anything?"

Sora's eyes lit up as he gave a smile to the teen that was much too pure for his real intentions, "Well, you could sleep in my bed!"

Roxas raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "And where would you sleep?"

"With you!"

"No."

Sora frowned and turned back to the TV, stuffing the pizza crust in his mouth. Roxas calmly sat on the opposite end of the couch from him, silence falling between them as they stared at MTV and let themselves become brainwashed. Finally (as it is impossible to watch music videos on MTV without every other one they show having something to do with sex), as Sora had expected to happen eventually, some random song he wouldn't give a damn about later started to play as the video showed—naturally for MTV—two people grinding up against each other.

Sora glanced at Roxas with a grin on his face, watching as the blonde adverted his eyes from the scene and instead started to stare at his feet, so, obviously, while the blonde was already uncomfortable, and since he wouldn't get to have him in his bed tonight (even if it wouldn't be for sex anyways), he decided to make the situation even more awkward for him.

"Hey, Roxie, have you ever had gay sex?"

Roxas's eyes went wide and snapped to look at him, wondering if he was serious about that question. But the brunette just grinned at him.

This was going to be a very long night.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Whoa, you guys... I got... 2 reviews last chapter. I think that's the least reviews I've gotten for anything I've ever posted before. Was it that bad? Sorry!_**

**_Anyways, this chapter wasn't beta-ed (I got impatient waiting), but I read-over the entire thing a couple times, so there shouldn't be any glaring obvious mistakes. If there is, can someone let me know? Thank you!_**

**_I really hope you guys like this chapter better, and I'm sorry if the last one sucked horribly!_**

_**Chapter 4**_

Roxas's eyes stared blankly at the brunette across from him, a grin that was much too innocent and just pleasant overall for him was plastered to his face, and despite knowing what kind of guy Sora really was, he still had to wonder if he had maybe misheard him… Okay, so he was _praying_ that he had misheard him. But wouldn't you? Guys don't just smile to each other while watching dirty music videos, then pop out with questions to your sexual activities with those of the same gender as you. That's just not something that is socially acceptable!

So, of course, Roxas was left floundering for a response for quite a few moments, his mind unable to spit out something that would be an appropriate response to being asked such an inappropriate question. Why didn't they teach something like _this_ at school? Then they could also give Sora the class and, hopefully, teach him how to be a functioning member of society, instead of some… would trash be the right word? Well, he didn't want to make it sound like he was stereotyping Sora based on his financial situation but… Comparatively, in both financial and social standards, he was, indeed, trash.

That being said, did he really need to give an appropriate response to an inappropriate question asked by trash? He didn't see anything that he would stand to gain in doing so, and it would most likely just be a waste of time and effort. It's not like he's running for some political position, he didn't need Sora on his side, if anything, it would be better if Sora was as far away from his as possible. Better for his image, for his future, for his life, for his health, mostly because he would dread the idea of being forced out here and possibly being mugged again… or almost mugged.

But still, even knowing this, he was _still_ flustered, _still_ just sitting there and gazing at the brunette blankly. His lips parted slightly as his jaw had gone slack in surprise, the pizza crust hanging limply in his hand, his eyes wide, the baby blue intense with an icy like quality in them, not cold like they usually were, but like they had frost creeping up over them. Sora's grin slowly dropped as Roxas just continued to stare at him, like he had frozen still the moment the words had graced his ears. The brunette's eyebrow rose slightly as he sighed and just waited for the reaction, but eventually figured that he wasn't going to get one if he didn't provoke it himself.

Leaning forward, he smirked as he watched the blonde beginning to tense up more, leaning back slowly as the brunette just seemed to get closer and closer to him, his breathing becoming shallow as the frosty look in his eyes changed to what almost rivaled fear. It didn't deter Sora, however, letting his face grow closer until he breathed out, knowing Roxas would feel his breath against his face, smirk growing wider as he watched the blonde flinch in confirmation. He let his tongue peek out a bit to wet his bottom lip, his eyes growing more hungry as he stared the boy down, his voice coming out too low and dark to truly suit the persona he wore for show, "Do you… want to try it?"

The piercing sound of a cell phone's chiming cut the air and sent a dagger through Sora's chest, depleting all the hot air he kept there to support himself as he jumped and flung himself back, almost like embarrassment, but more as if he had just realized his own actions. Roxas's wide eyes narrowed into scathing glares after he jumped from the ring, gulping heavily as he darted off the couch, he backed up a few steps until he reached the wall by the sliding glass door, then pushed it open and quickly slipped outside.

Slamming it shut, he leaned against the house beside it, biting down hard on his lip as he clenched his fists and wrinkled his nose at his sweaty palms. Another bout of ringing erupted his ear drums, however, not giving him a chance to think over what just happened, he shoved his hand in his pocket and let it emerge with his cell, the screen brightly lit with the name he… hadn't been expecting. Naminé had probably been the source of all the missed calls and texts, so why was his… mother calling?

Wasn't she in France or something?

Cautiously, he brought the phone up and flipped it open, half whispering a "hello," unconsciously respecting the peace that seemed to be in the backyard, cut off from the rest of the city. However, the peace was crushed with the words spoken from the receiver.

A deep, gravelly voice spoke slowly, almost lazily, "Hello, _Roxas_. I've got your mother here with me, and, well, you see, she isn't faring too well with the concussion and blood loss-"

"Dad?"

"W-What? No, do I sound like your father?"

"Yes, but maybe a few more years after chain smoking." Roxas smirked as he held the phone next to his ear, unworried. His parents, they weren't the normal type, with the business they do taking them all around the world, Roxas didn't see them much at all. In his mind, they didn't really register as parents, so it didn't matter much to him if they were around. He didn't need them; he'd done it on his own.

When they had moved to Radiant Gardens, he had taken care of enrolling in the school of his choice, he had chosen his classes and signed up for clubs while his parents spent a month renovating the house to the way they wished it. He had sat at their business dinners after the renovation patiently, with a pleasant smile on his face and the guts to swallow his gag reflex when some old nasty creep would talk to him. And then, when they had decided this house wasn't good enough for them, and had announced the move to France, he told them he would stay here with Naminé, and they left. But it didn't matter, he could take care of himself, and Naminé was around too, some of the time.

Enough to be more recognizable than them at least, he hadn't seen them in four years.

He fought a sigh that would make his exhaustion clear, "What are you doing?"

His father could be heard whining to his mother on the other side of the phone, the woman probably off in another room and ignoring him at this point, then spoke back to his son, "Aww, Roxas, you're no fun to play with anymore! What happened to the little boy who used to cry and say he'd call the cops?"

"He got too many fake threats on his mother's life. Now, if she is ever really kidnapped, he probably will just ignore it and hang up." Roxas rolled his eyes and noticed some plastic lawn chairs sitting a few feet ahead of him, heading over to them and giving the first one a once over before finding it decent enough to take a seat on.

"But Roooooooxaaaaaaaaas," The blonde winced slightly at the man's whine, but didn't respond otherwise, even though he could feel the annoyance building in him, he let it boil lowly with tolerance, "Oh, when did you get so boring? Take the stick out of your-"

Suddenly, there was some yelling, what sounded like a heavy _thump_ on the other end, and then his mother's crisp, clean-cut tone entered the earpiece of his phone, and he sighed in relief at, not just the sound, but her words also, "Roxas, your father drank a bit too much at the bar in the hotel, he will call you again later. Good night."

"Good night, Mom." He flipped the phone shut and scowled, glaring down at the ground, where the light of the living room reflected off some green and some dead blades of grass.

It wasn't that he disliked his parents, but more like found them a nuisance. The way they acted, just dragging him around like he was another piece of decoration, and then how easily they dropped him when he refused to be dragged to France. It was a nuisance, the way they didn't act like parents and left it up to him. Naminé was just one sister, she couldn't fill in the feelings you get from parents, no matter how hard she tries, it will never change. Those moments he would see children walking hand-in-hand with their mom or dad, and feel a bit resentful for never having such a moment. Or those moments after a good tennis game, where his teammates' parents would take their children home or to dinner, congratulating them, and he would just go to the locker room, get changed, and head home.

He didn't mean to sound pitiful in that aspect, it wasn't something that he hurt over desperately, just something that used to pain him when he was younger. Now, even if his parents offered, he would turn them down. Now, he really didn't want something called a "parent."

"Hey, Roxy?" His head snapped up at the sound of the voice, his eyes catching on the sight of Sora standing curiously in the threshold to the living room, the light behind him giving a glow around him. Roxas had to squint a bit, to continue looking at him as he spoke, "You can sleep in my room, I'm going to sleep on the couch now, so go up when you're ready. First door on the right… Good night."

The glass door slid closed before Roxas could really gather his thoughts to respond, his eyes trailing after the teen inside the living room, watching him walk around through the glass door, turning off all lights except the one closest to the stairs, probably for him. He sighed quietly and stood as he saw Sora collapse on the couch, staring at the ground as he, as quietly as he could, slid the door open, squeezed in, and shut it behind himself.

Inside, warmth flooded against his skin, making him suddenly notice how cold he'd been, he shivered for a moment, at the sudden change, then glanced around the room. Taking care to overlook the head of brown hair just barely visible from over the armrest of the couch, he looked for any other door that could possibly lead to the bathroom. Frowning as he couldn't seem to find one, his eyes caught on the sight of something shiny across from the kitchen, walking up to it as silently as possible, he realized it looked to be a shiny silver handle, a small one that was indented in the wall. He slipped his fingers in it and gently pushed it to the right first, feeling no give and so pushing it to the left, becoming surprised as it slid open to reveal a small bathroom. A dangling string in front of him tempted to be pulled, making a dim light bulb brighten the room a bit to reveal… not much: a toilet, a sink, and a shower.

No window.

Not even a vent.

It wasn't that he was claustrophobic, but… places without windows just gave him the creeps. Despite getting these creeps, though, he stepped in and carefully slid the door shut behind him, leaving a tiny crack as he noticed there was no handle on the inside. He first used the toilet, gritting his teeth as he noticed it wasn't exactly the cleanest thing in the world, but he didn't have to touch it, just piss in it. So, he did exactly that, and then glanced at the sink. The faucet and handles seemed to be rusted, although, not to the point where he'd expect polluted water, or anything overdramatic like that, to come rushing out, so he just bent down to open the cabinet, expecting to see some unused toothbrushes or something (as that's what he had in his bathroom at home), but instead saw a bucket, half-filled with water, sitting under a pipe that seemed to lead to the sink's drain.

He narrowed his eyes and reached up, turning the cold water faucet, and then looking down at the pipe to see just what he expected: at least half the water was spewing from a hole in the pipe, splashing into the bucket. Grimacing to himself, he closed the cabinets and stood in front of the sink, sticking his finger under the water before running it roughly over his teeth. It would have to do for now, he would be going home tomorrow anyways. Then he splashed some water over his clean skin, using his shirt to dry his face when he realized there were no towels in sight, and sighed as he looked up in the mirror above the sink.

The reflection held infected cracks along the edge of the mirror, but he doubted it was those that made him stare at the image of himself without recognition. There was something different, not just his hair or the bags under his eyes, that he hadn't seen in the mirror in Naminé's bathroom, something that he could see plainly in the dim light of the light bulb behind him. It wasn't something, though, that even in such obvious sight he could identify.

But either way, it didn't matter. He would go home tomorrow, and he would never have to look in any other mirror again. It's probably just the lighting, and the dirt on the mirror, and his exhaustion, they were just twisting his vision, messing with his head, disorientating him. So he pushed away from the sink and quickly left the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind himself before slipping around the corner and quickly heading up the narrow staircase, keeping his eyes glued to the floor the entire time.

At the top, he slipped into the first door on the right and shut it behind himself as fast as he could, wincing at the small thump it had made; turning around to glance at the room, his eyebrows pulled together in almost confusion, then dropped a bit in guilt, but telling himself not to feel pity. He wasn't going to insult Sora like that. The room wasn't even as big as his dressing room, it would barely even fit his closet, the floor beneath his feet was padded with clothing, making his nose wrinkle, the concert posters covering the walls making his eyes narrow in distaste and caution, and the black bed sheet hanging over the window ominously just gave him a bad feeling all together.

He ignored these things, looking back to the two pieces of furniture in front of him, the dresser sitting at the end of the bed, it seemed to be in pretty good condition, but the bed was a mess. Judging by the way it looked, the legs underneath having wheels, and the fact that it seemed to pop up a bit strangely in the middle, it looked like it was a fold-up. Sighing, he just forgot about it and walked over to collapse onto the bed, because, at the moment, he was so tired, he wouldn't even care if Sora was in the bed. He'd have slept on it anyways.

Feeling his mind go vertigo in unconsciousness, he let himself drift away.

_**EVERYONE GIVE LOTS OF THANKS TO MONKEHPLUSHIES FOR THE AWESOME BETA WORK!**_

The sound of a loud creak of the door was what eventually woke him up, groggily, disorientated, confused as to where he was but still enough in a dream-like state to not have reached a panic about that yet. He sighed deeply as he let his eyes crack open a bit, his eyes straining through the lack of light to see anything, but the combination of the night and the black sheet over the window blocked out too much light to see.

His heart thumped heavily against his ribs as he realized his situation, leaping up into a sitting position with a ragged gasp of air as his body leapt to panic before his mind could register where he was. And then his body was suddenly crushed under another, and he found himself shoved back onto the bed, hands wrapped around his mouth, and his mind didn't need to remember anything, just let his body panic.

"Don't you fucking say a word; I _will_ slice your throat-"

Roxas thrashed around the hold against him, throwing his fists in the direction of what he hoped was the person's face, but they either hit the guy's free arm or air, and his legs were kicking and his hips bucking to try and get the guy off, but it really had no effect. Then he felt a sting against his cheek, making him still for a moment before he realized he'd just been slapped.

_Slapped_.

He heard a "click" and light flooded the room, making Roxas squint his eyes shut immediately, groaning at the burning brightness before also throwing his arms over his eyes as extra protection before he remembered he still had an attacker on him. About ready to start his panicking again, the "assailant" spoke, his tone clearly pissed off, "What the fuck is wrong with you, man? I mean, we live in a pretty shitty part of town, but there ain't gonna be a dumbass that'd try and sneak his way in this house! My DAD, AURON, he lives here! Not to mention Sora is Zack's kid! Who would fuck with Zack's kid? No-Body has enough shit in their brain to make them think that they can fuck with Sora, my dad, AND me. Damn, just use your fucking head, dumbass."

Roxas let his eyes blink open slowly, his arms still shading them from the harsh light as the image of Vanitas sneering down at him came into focus, finding the only thing he really registered about that explanation was that Sora's father is Zack, "Who's Zack?"

Vanitas's nose scrunched up like he saw something disgusting, "Are you shitting me? You don't know Zack? Zack FAIR? Jesus, Sora really chose a fucking piece of work, didn't he… Listen, you _poor sheltered child_, I'll only tell you one thing, only because I don't really give a damn about you but I want Sora to at least get some this month, Evans is a fake name, look up Sora FAIR."

He grunted as the body above him jumped off, the knee used to give the other leverage dug into his gut, making him yelp in pain and curl into a ball, clutching the area. Vanitas just ignored him, walking over to Sora's dresser to rip out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, he tugged them on without glancing at the blonde, but Roxas wasn't about to settle with just that, "What are you talking about?"

Vanitas raised an eyebrow at him, then snorted, "If you have to ask, you _really_ don't deserve to know."

Roxas glared at him, sitting up in the bed as he watched Vanitas slip the sweatshirt on, no shirt, and zip it up about half way, lifting a thick chain from Sora's dresser and throwing it over his neck before seeming to notice that Roxas even had his attention on him. He raised an eyebrow at the boy before snorting and turning around, about to leave the room before he was stopped by the blonde again, "Wait, why are you in here? Do you always steal Sora's clothes?"

Vanitas turned to glower at him, "No, Dumbass, first drawer is my dad, second Sora, I'm on the third, the last one is socks and shit."

Roxas wrinkled his nose at that, "There's only one dresser in this house?"

"Well, what gave you the fucking clue, Sherlock? I _just_ said so, didn't I? Are you going deaf? Fuck off, we don't have the money or space to each have our own, it's why Sora's got the biggest room."

"**This** is the biggest room?"

"Are you _fucking retarded? _I don't have the time to deal with this shit, go ask Sora! He's watching fucking Spongebob!" Vanitas slammed the door shut behind him, making the teen on the bed flinch, staring after him for a few moments before his mind seemed to register what he had said.

His breath caught, his head snapping around to look at the room, then shoved his hand into his pocket for his cell, pulling it out to see the time, nearly having a heart-attack when it said 11. He slept until 11 in the morning? How on earth had he managed to do that? Just HOW? He didn't even sleep like that at home, and this bed wasn't anywhere near as comfortable!

He scrambled off the bed, throwing the door open and racing down the stairs, glancing up for a moment to see Sora turn his head to look at Roxas running down the stairs in surprise, "Hey! Be careful! Those stairs aren't-"

Suddenly, the floor came rushing up to him, Roxas felt his head hit the stairs that somehow managed to get behind him, and he winced as he felt his right ankle twist at an awkward angle. Instincts taking over at the moment, his hands shot out under him as he felt his body slipping down the stairs, one hand catching on the edge of a step and stopping him, but not before the other slipped awkwardly and smashed into the wall. Finally stationary once more, he let his eyes flutter open as the silence reigned over the room… then he realized, that wasn't silence.

That was Spongebob laughing.

_**AH, MY BELLY BUTTON PIERCING IS PISSING ME OFF! THE STUPID THING! GRAWR BITCH!**_

Roxas kept his eyes clenched shut as Sora and Vanitas argued with each other, his ankle propped up on a pillow as he was stretched across the horrible green couch, cradling his bruised wrist against his chest, he sighed loudly, managing to at least catch one of the cousin's attention. Sora glanced over briefly, then sighed, turning a dark stare back to Vanitas, "Well, we should at least give him ice for it… then I think we should bring him to the hospital!"

Vanitas's eyes rolled, a sneer curling into his features, "Alright, Sora, we'll just scoop the payment for the hospital bill out of our _ass_. While we're at it, we can shit some rainbows and vomit pixie dust until we pass out from a brain tumor!"

"What if he has a fucking concussion or something, Vanitas! He can't remember the fall! That's a sign of a concussion! He could die if we don't bring him to the hospital right now!" Sora snarled back, taking a step forward to get into his cousin's face, but the older man just glared coldly down at him.

"We don't have the kind of money to do that sort of thing, Sora."

"I'll pay for it!" Sora and Vanitas shifted their attention to the blonde on the couch, still cradling his wrist as he glared at the idiots in front of him, "If it really makes you feel so better to have me checked in a hospital, then I'll go and pay for the bill, too! I'll even pay you interest! Just shut up and get me ice! I'm in pain here!"

Sora flinched and dashed around Vanitas, running into the kitchen, leaving Roxas alone with the other man. Vanitas began to stare him down as Roxas took hesitant awkward glances back at him, then winced and looked down at his foot on the pillow, "Uh, didn't you have somewhere to be?"

Vanitas's glare seemed to intensify at that, Roxas biting his lip in anxiousness. Sora didn't scare him, not at all, he did seem to have an underlining darkness in whatever he did, but he seemed to have a much lighter presence and personality. Sora was, dare he say, a pleasant person to be around… sometimes.

Most of the time, though, Roxas failed to see this less annoying side of him, but he knew it had to be there. After all, so many people wouldn't fall for the brunette's tricks if they didn't trust him in the first place, so that, too, also provided a bit of evidence that he wasn't a completely horrible person. Roxas has just failed to see it as of yet.

Vanitas snarl of a response drew him sharply out of his thoughts, baby blue eyes snapping to golden in surprise, "I have to go to the hospital, too."

Roxas's eyebrow rose at that, but he didn't say anything, not needing to as Vanitas just filled in the blank for him, "Your damn cousin is making me have an STD test."

Roxas was quiet for a moment, thinking over his cousins, and then remembered him having mentioned Ven yesterday. It wasn't anything surprising, he knew Ven was gay, and he knew he lived in a damn good apartment in Hollow Bastion, because his college was in Traverse Town, which was closer to Hollow Bastion than Radiant Gardens. But the surprising part of it was that Ven would date someone like Vanitas. Roxas really tried to be open-minded, he really did, but this was starting to push the limits. But at least he was still retaining enough common sense to have the guy tested, only God knows what kinds of things he could have contracted by now…

Sora suddenly burst back into the room, carrying two plastic bags of ice, handing one to the blonde for his wrist and carefully placing the other on his ankle. Sapphire eyes traced the sight of the red and swollen ankle in front of him, a frown worked into his lips, he held the bag, hesitantly, over the ankle for a couple seconds, wondering if the weight of it-even if only one or two pounds at most-would be more painful. Then his eyes caught on to the edge of the pant-leg, how it had been rolled halfway up the blonde's calf to not bother his ankle, revealing the smooth, creamy leg, a gentle slope of lithe muscle, but otherwise looking thin and…

He really wanted to touch that. No, he wanted to do so much more than touch that, but he couldn't do something like that at the moment. He was shaken from his thoughts suddenly as he heard Roxas hiss to himself, carefully laying the bag in his possession over his hurt wrist, and he sighed to himself, moving his own down gently onto the ankle. There was a whimper heard the moment it touched, but he had expected that, at least, then he felt soft skin touch his finger, and electricity jolted through his body. Sora unconsciously sucked in his breath, eyes jumping over to see Roxas's gaze focused straight at his foot, his eyes wide and a flush coming over his face. Sora wasn't sure what the flush was from, maybe pain, maybe anguish, maybe embarrassment or nerves?

He could only hope for the ladder.

Vanitas's snort was heard, making all attention shift to him suddenly, but he was just scowling at them, "Alright, duck tape the bags to him or something, he'll get the back seat, that means you gotta sit on the milk crate, Sor."

Roxas's eyes narrowed in confusion, "Milk crate?"

Sora just shrugged at him, "Sacrifices were made."

_**YEAH YOUR LIFE! HAVE YOU EVER SAT ON A MILK CRATE INSTEAD OF A CAR SEAT? IT'S FREAKING SCARY!**_

Roxas's jaw dropped as he looked at the car before him, if it could even be considered a car still. A Honda Accord DX, the color looked to be black, but there were some places that it looked like it had been painted over, the paint seeming to wash off a bit in those places to reveal some dulled gold. All the doors had been replaced with ones from what looked like a different car, as they were red and the windows didn't seem to match quite right, and the front bumper had definitely seen much better days. The car as a whole seemed to have never had an easy day, though, there were scratches, dings, scorch marks, you name it. Then the back door was opened, and Sora helped him into the backseats, giving him the view of the _leather_ interior.

The outside looked like shit, but the seats inside were leather? What was the priority here? And the flooring was tiled! But then he looked up and his jaw dropped. There, right next to the driver's seat, sat a milk crate in place of the passenger's seat. A **milk crate**. Although, granted, the seatbelt was still left, sticking out from the floor, awkwardly tied to the crate with some rope, and the belt itself still intact on the opposite side of it… but where the hell was the seat? Is this really safe? Was Sora seriously going to sit on that?

Yes, he was.

Vanitas jumped into the driver's seat as Sora quickly crawled on top of the crate, pulling the seatbelt over himself and clicking it in, one hand immediately went to the handle by the door, the other clutching to the dashboard in front of him. He looked over and smiled brightly at Roxas, "Don't worry! Vanitas has never been pulled over by a cop!"

Roxas just blinked at him, then muttered, "You're going to die."

Vanitas snorted, "No he's not… We're going to the hospital, remember?"

The car roared to life, and Roxas felt his nails digging into the leather upholstery beneath him. Pulling out of the driveway, Roxas felt his heart leap back into his throat, the beating surging through his ears, the sweat building on his neck and palms, his breathing quickening, and, finally, his life began to flash before his eyes as Vanitas peeled out of the driveway and onto street before them.

His only regret: he wasn't going to die happy.

…

Okay, and maybe he regrets having not given away his virginity before his death, too.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I'm really sorry about taking an extra long time to post this chapter you guys, especially since I had been posting them so fast before. My desktop DIED last week, it didn't just "break," it went the extra mile and kicked the bucket, we turn it on and it makes a sick beep before the screen turns completely black or white (how racist my computer is). But I didn't freak out too bad over it, I mean, I couldn't do my homework for my VHS class at home for a little while, but I did most of it at school anyways, everything I had on that computer was backed-up on an external hard drive, and I was buying a netbook that weekend anyways...**_

_**Which is what I'm typing on right now! :D It's an HP, it's VERY pink, it's got a plaid design over it's cover and touchpad and... Okay, so I don't like that part, but I got awesome wallpaper of Vanitas and Ventus looking badass and I can cover the pink plaid with some bumper stickers and band stickers and shit. xD I think I'm going to name it Bobby, just to be ironic against the pink.**_

_**Anyways, there is a lot more bonding time between Sora and Roxas in this chapter (A LOT OF "BONDING") and their past connection is revealed more. I'm actually a little surprised no one has asked about how they met yet, which made me feel a bit more satisfied for being able to save it until now for some reason. xD**_

_**I really hope you guys like this chapter! It's unbeta-ed because it's getting late and I really just want to sleep so I will look good for the cute boy in my Ceramics class tomorrow. ;D So please read and ENJOY...**_

_**Oh, and... this is the only awesome line in the entire chapter, sorry dudes.**_

_**THANK HALLUCIINATE FOR THE AWESOME BETA JOB YOU GUYS!**_

**_Chapter 5_**

Sora gulped as his eyes fell on the still form sitting up in the bed in front of him, nibbling his lip nervously as he kept all his attention to the boy on the bed and off the patients that were emitting pained groans around them in the room.

Only God (or Vanitas, who had been the one to check them in, but then disappeared), knows where in Hollow Bastion Hospital they were. The moment Roxas was told to "take a seat right up here" though, Sora immediately regretted coming to the hospital for **any** reason. He was suddenly becoming very sure that Roxas didn't have a concussion, and thoughts of sprinting out of this place and driving far, _far_ away were growing to be thought about more fondly in his mind, but the only thing keeping him half-trembling in the seat next to the blonde's bed was the amazement by the other boy's sheer _lack_ of response.

Taking another glance up at the boy beside him, his eyes zeroed-in on the baby blue ones of his companion, watching them in an unnerved fashion as Roxas just watched the man across from him, the one who was in an almost catatonic state, his mouth gaping open in a horrified silent scream, what looked to be a bath towel clutched to his temple as streams of blood trailed down the side of his face and neck, dripping off his jaw distractingly, tears and saliva mixing in with the solution.

Sora snapped his attention away before he puked. Normally, such a sight wouldn't affect him this bad; he would probably have gasped or winced if he had seen this almost anywhere else, but it was probably just the queer lighting that seemed to burn his retinas and leave him dazed, or the toxic sterile smell that turned his stomach uneasily, or the white noise that strangely sounded like tortured sobs. He could nearly taste the death in the air, like a separate strand of texture that was hidden in with that sterilization.

And everything was just so fucking white… making his eyes sting, reminding him of the beeping and the screams. That blood making him rock steadily in his queasiness in his seat, realizing he'd almost forgotten how it had pooled on the floor at that time…

"Hey…" He flinched as his mind snapped away from those memories, focusing back on to Roxas, the teen beside him looked down at the brunette with a frown on his face. He didn't say anything else, though, just averted his attention to the young girl beside him, her face a deadly white as her eyes stared in horror at the nurses pinning her down, someone who he assumed to be her mother standing back and watching the doctor approach her daughter with a large needle.

Sora turned away as the girl's screams escalated, biting down hard on his lip as doctors suddenly rushed in another person, one looking fairly calm, compared to the other two he had viewed at least. No screaming, no crying, it made him sigh in relief as he took a closer look at the person. A deep scowl ran over his features as he finally noticed the deep gash running between his eyes, long brunette bangs having covered it originally, but even the calmness he held in that moment had fooled him. He half expected to turn to him and ask him if he had just walked to the hospital like that, and he wouldn't have been surprised if he replied yes either.

He didn't however, as the man was wheeled to the other side of the room, and he forced his attention back to Roxas, the blonde's gaze snapping away from him the moment their eyes even grazed each other. The fair-skinned (not pale, Sora knew that wouldn't do justice to many people in this room at the moment) face flushed a bit as it turned away, making Sora smile a bit amusedly, "I know, I know, Roxie, there's no need to be embarrassed, you can stare all you want…"

Roxas's head snapped back and a glare was thrown directly at him, making Sora snicker quietly to himself, a liquid warmth pouring into his chest as he felt those eyes beat into him.

Roxas sighed to himself and turned away again, knowing glaring wouldn't actually have an effect on the teen, "I wasn't… You didn't look too good. I thought… Well, you know, that you might be… one of those people, you know-"

"'One of _those_ people?' Nah, Rox, I don't think I know what you mean-please, elaborate what 'one of _those_ people' means." Sora grinned wickedly as he watched the scowl work itself nearly permanent on to that fair face.

"Dumbass, I didn't put any emphasis on 'those-'"

"Oh! Nasty language! Roxie said bad word! Alright, you wait here, and I'll go find some hand-sanitizer to clean your mouth out with." Sora teased as he sat up, making it look like he was about to run off.

Roxas's glare made a reappearance, "I _will_ kick your ass."

Sora pouted, falling back into his seat, "Oh, **now **you're using emphasis."

"You're doing it too!" Roxas snapped back at him, his scowl becoming more similar to a pout every second.

Sora grinned again and stuck out his tongue, snickering to himself as he watched Roxas's eyes dart to the appendage hanging from his mouth. A gleam that would have made Roxas suspicious appeared in the brunette's sapphire eyes, flicking his tongue to the corner of his mouth and dragging it languidly over his upper lip. Slipping the tongue back into his mouth suddenly, he let the smirk conquer his mouth, making Roxas's eyes snap back up to meet his eyes before turning away in embarrassment again. Sora withheld the urge to just curl up and giggle insanely (because that wouldn't be cool at all), and instead leaned forward, closer to the blonde's arm, bringing up his fingers to let them gently skim the surface of the boy's arm, watching in amusement as the skin seemed to flush beneath his fingertips, gooseflesh rising.

Sucking in his breath silently, he moved in closer, bringing his lips closer to the skin just above the elbow, he breathed out slowly-carefully, turning his eyes up to watch the reaction that would be given. The fair face turned away, but the shoulders tensed clearly He chuckled quietly to himself, nearly jumping when the arm was suddenly snatched away from in front of him, Roxas clutching onto the spot he had breathed against tightly. His face was turned away still, but his words were plenty clear, the sobs, the screaming, the beeping, the blood hovering in the back of his memory, none of that could drown him out.

"Stop doing that, man, that's so gay-it's gross."

Alright, he could take being told to stop. Yeah, he would feel dejected for getting rejected without even being considered, but he wouldn't get discouraged or anything. He'd just lay low for a couple days, give him a false sense of security, then shove him against the nearest surface and begin licking every inch of his body he could. Hopefully, in that plan, Roxas would just be in denial and would actually get turned on. He could handle that situation, he really could. And he could handle being called gay or gross, too. Hell, he was called gay all the time in middle school. And you know what he did back then? He grabbed those fuckers, broke their nose, smacked a nice wet kiss on them, and then slammed their heads against the closest and hardest thing he'd have at his disposal at the time.

Of course, that was all done out of Vanitas's advice, and he was called to the office a lot, but that was back when he went to the same school as his cousin, so he always managed to slither out of trouble… somehow. Vanitas was a good influence _some_times.

He leaned back in his chair, staring closely at the way Roxas's fingers rubbed angrily at the spot his breath had touched, like they were trying to rub away evidence. It was probably at that moment, watching the way his shoulders seemed to nearly quiver with how tense the muscles were, how his fingers turned white at the tips as he rubbed so hard, as his skin began to turn red in that area in exchange… It was probably at that moment, standing up silently, looking around the boy to see how his face was downturned, how his ears had begun to turn red, how his teeth were digging into his bottom lip and making the sweet pink color turn red and chap, how he couldn't make his eyes out under the blonde bangs… It **was** at that moment that he realized that what he had said didn't make him sad, or miserable, or sick, or hateful, or vengeful, or any of those simplistic or reasonable emotions.

It just filled him with some kind of undeniable, illogical, irrational, absurd, demonic… rage…

This was, quite possibly, the first time he had ever dealt with this amount of rage in such a common manner. But that was most likely Roxas's influence, as he was the one who caused it, and usually the people who caused Sora to become so angry get a sneaker in place of their two front teeth, but he didn't want to do such a thing to Roxas, so he would deal with it in a different manner. Don't get him wrong, it'll still be violent… but…

When an unfamiliar tan hand wrapped around his wrist tightly, Roxas froze for, most likely, somewhere between 2.5 and 3 seconds… total. Then he snapped back to reality just in time for the hand to jerk his wrist away, a knee suddenly on one side of him as it's opposite found a place on the other side, making him realize those were his knees and Sora was pushing them apart with his body. When did he get on the bed? Doesn't really matter, actually, he just needs to get off. Now.

Roxas whimpered under his breath as fingers suddenly wrapped tightly around his other arm, in the spot he'd been rubbing his skin raw, where Sora's breath still tingled, but not because it was particularly that sensitive to touch, but more because that was the arm with his hurt wrist and it just was pressed against the bed roughly. He was pretty sure his lungs weren't working anymore, not that they were needed with the amount of air that seemed to take the place of his brain, that brain most likely having dropped down to land in his (currently empty and quite hungry) stomach, being the only thing on the vast area that would help out with his nerves by doing a full cardiovascular work-out, because his heart was going to need it to keep up with the pace Roxas's body was making it beat. However, these were trivial statements to the overall effect that Sora had on his body.

That effect being something bad. Very bad. A **boy**, a **guy**-a _man_, was making this reaction come from him—and he shouldn't like it! Not at all! This wasn't the reaction he was supposed to have! This is the reaction you read about in books when the guy finally realizes he's in love with the girl; he wasn't supposed to have this reaction with _Sora!_ Maybe Olette, or-or-_Yuffie_ even! He would at least understand why he was having this kind of reaction if a girl like _Yuffie_ was doing this to him! Sure, she dressed like a harlot, but she's a HOT harlot! Sora is… Sora has a _dick_!

Roxas flinched as he suddenly found his sight full of tan skin and brunette hair, it took him a couple more moments for the pressure against his lips to register in his brain, and a couple more moments for him to stop panicking and think about an appropriate reaction to this situation. From the way he saw it, Sora was obviously… _attracted_ to him, forgetting about the fact that Sora was a guy and gay and that Roxas refused to even consider the idea of himself being attracted to **any** man… He just has to turn him down like any other person who had ever come onto him in this way… The only problem with this plan would be: Roxas usually only associated with those who were civilized enough to not attack the object of their perverse affections in a hospital.

He was just realizing that this internal monologue was also taking up quite a considerable amount of time that Sora was using to bruise their lips by crushing them together. He wasn't quite sure what his next move should be, to tell the truth, he wasn't sure what action was considered appropriate for this moment, but he was beginning to think that the reason he was doing such intense logical thinking of this subject was to avoid the fact that all his senses were completely focused on how he was no longer breathing, mostly out of fear that it would startle the intensity of the kiss and Sora would pull away much too fast. Possibly with a couple vital organs of Roxas's that seemed to be trying to claw their way out through his throat and attack Sora… you know, organs like his heart and stuff.

"Not that I particularly care, but if you only come to the emergency room at this time of time of the day to make-out around sick people, I may recommend checking into our psych ward for a couple-or several-days."

Roxas was suddenly an absence from Sora's lips, making the brunette open his eyes a bit to see the blonde laying flat on the bed, a pained expression over his face. For the first couple seconds, he was actually afraid that expression was caused because Sora had kissed him, but then he remembered the teen is injured, and it's more likely that Roxas had just launched himself back so suddenly that he probably irritated one of them. It was after those few seconds of observation and discovery that Sora would remember that they had been interrupted by a certain snarky someone, making him glance over his shoulder to see a rather short, emo-looking man in a doctor's coat behind them, eyeing them with a gaze that somewhat resembled pure, unreasonable, loathing.

He pouted as he looked back to Roxas, huffing as Roxas turned his blushing face away immediately, refusing to meet his eyes, or even let his eyes look in his direction. Grumbling to himself; he released his grip on the boy's arms and began moving off the bed to fall back into the chair, "He fell down the stairs, he hurt his wrist and ankle, and he hit his head pretty hard."

The short man (actually, a bit taller than Sora, but Sora was secure enough with himself to admit that was pretty short for his age) walked quickly up to the other side of Roxas's bed, snatching up the blonde's wrist and making the boy yelp. Sora seethed inwardly as he watched the doctor practically molest Roxas's wrist and ankle with his hands, every once and awhile asking him if it hurt or not. Eventually, he directed his attention away from the fact that, besides the lips and Sora's past actions with Roxas's neck in freshmen year, this doctor possibly had gotten to feel Roxas up more than him, and instead directed his attention to anything else around him that wouldn't make him feel worse. Like the guy still sobbing and screaming a few feet from them. Why hasn't anyone treated him yet? It's not that he didn't think Roxas deserved medical attention, but he was a bit more alarmed with that man's injury than Roxas's.

The doctor eventually moved to the blonde's head, gently feeling the skull first, for a bump or something, most likely, flashing a light in his eyes, all the good doctor stuff. Sora's attention wandered for a few moments, his eyes drifting to the name sewn into the white coat of the emo-doc, "Zexion."

The man looked up from what he was writing on a clip-board, giving Sora that universal look that said something along the lines of, "I don't want to be here, I don't want to talk to you, I just want to get my job done and get paid as quick as possible. So shut up, leave me alone, and keep out of my way."

Sora, of course, keeping to his true nature, completely ignored said look and went right into inquiring as much as he could about his favorite blonde's condition, "So, does he have a concussion? A broken ankle or wrist? And don't give me any of that doctor crap, like, 'He's completely fine, a little rest and relaxation and he will be back to normal in the morning.' Because he definitely is not alright in anyway, just look at him!"

Two pairs of eyes fell onto the form of the still blushing boy on the table, said blonde glaring down at the bed sheets to his right, but otherwise not acknowledging the brunette's existence. Zexion snorted and glared at Sora, then went back to writing on his clipboard, like he was writing a constitution or something; Sora would swear that most doctors were just sketching on there and pretending they were doing something important. But eventually Zexion looked back up and gave Sora a skeptical look, like he doubted something the brunette had said, but Sora just shrugged that off. He really didn't care what some emo-doc thought of him, as long as he wasn't about to call the cops and accuse him of beating Roxas, or something along those lines. He wasn't exactly sure that Roxas would defend him, either… so such a situation could turn quite ugly for him.

But Zexion didn't seem to be accusing him of anything, yet, he just muttered something under his breath to himself before finally speaking up, "Well, he doesn't have a concussion, exactly, just a small bump. He will probably remember the fall soon enough, it wasn't that traumatic to his brain. As for his wrist and ankle; his wrist seems to be fractured, but it looks like he just has a twisted ankle. I wouldn't worry too much about it; I will get you a brace for the wrist and an ace bandage for his ankle." He looked up from beneath his fringed bangs, directly at Sora, "He should be fine. It looks like his 'fall down the stairs' wasn't as harmful as you thought."

Sora glared at the doctor for a moment, then rolled his eyes and looked over to Roxas, the blonde finally glancing over his way, "You okay with that?"

Roxas nodded quickly, turning his attention back to Zexion, "Uh, y-yeah. That's fine."

"Good!" Sora shouted happily, making shooing motions with his hands towards Zexion, "You go do your job and such, and fetch Roxie everything he needs! And, hey, don't even think about cheating us out of the mandatory Popsicle, Roxie gets one of those, too!"

Zexion _seethed_ as he glared at Sora, a poisonous stare so deadly that Roxas was seriously surprised the brunette was still standing. Now understanding why Sora always remained so unaffected by his glares, they were mediocre compared to the likes of Zexion's. Surprisingly though, despite the glare of a thousand painfully bloody deaths, Zexion **did** turn around and start heading out of the room for Roxas's treatment, making Sora smirk happily and turn his attention back to Roxas, "You kissed me back."

Roxas's face lit up red again as he unconsciously glared at the brunette, "I **did not**. I'm not gay; you just forced yourself on me!"

Sora's smirk caused some sort of irrational rage to begin to boil in his body, but he wouldn't bite at his taunting, it was like Sora was trying to reel him in as if he were a fish. He had dealt with Sora's immature attention grabbing schemes since freshman year; it was how they met to begin with! Roxas's stomach curled uneasily as he remembered the first day they met.

He was new to the school, he was lost, he was a naïve dumbass. He really was. And Sora spotted that kind of person from a mile away, his instincts taking over as his eyes locked on to Roxas's nervous form in the crowd of freshmen, marking his new target and started pushing through the crowd to make his way over to the blonde. It all went down from there, Sora made a giant spectacle of himself, the school administration was involved. His first day of school, he got called to the principal's office because of Sora and his stupidity!

Just who does that anyways? It was sick! It wasn't even funny, even if half of his class, _at least_, found it hilarious to taunt him about it for half the year. It was just a dumb joke that was blown completely out of proportion… Sora just walked up to him, pretending like he was offering help to a new and confused student. He led him straight into the school, down some random hallway half-filled with wandering students, and told him that his class was "just behind this door."

At that time, he had been completely tricked by Sora's fake smile, by his faux friendly nature, he wouldn't figure out his true sadism until much, _much_, later.

Like the naïve dumbass that he mentioned he was before, he nodded some thanks shyly and slipped past Sora through the door, eyes widening when he found he stepped into a very immaculate janitor's closet. While he appreciated knowing that the janitor's of this school were so neat that they also kept their closets pristine, it wasn't what he had been interested in finding. About to turn around and question Sora about this, he heard the door slam as he was shoved against the opposite wall across from him.

He grunted as his jaw connected with the concrete wall, his eyes squeezing shut in pain before they snapped back open, a wet, warm feeling at his neck. Gasping, his eyes darted down to his neck, spiky brunette hair tickling his cheek as small bites were made against his neck, making him whine a bit before full realization could kick in. Of course, the _first_ thing that jumped into his mind was that Sora was going to rape him. To this day, Roxas still didn't know if Sora would actually go that far, even though a large part of him doubted it, doubted that even Sora would do something like that (it was mostly just a gut feeling though). But the moment the thought even whispered into his consciousness, he was screaming bloody murder and struggling to push himself away from the wall and Sora's grasp.

To his horror, Sora hadn't let go of him, instead he felt a sharper pain against his neck, his eyes widening as Sora continued to bite down harder on his neck. What was he, a freaking vampire? He thrashed against the wall, trying as hard as he could to get Sora's grasp off him, but when he felt Sora's tongue alternating between gently licking the spots he bit and sucking harder on them, part of him began to realize no one was going to check on the screaming coming from the closet, that he was trapped here.

Beginning to pant as he became tired of the thrashing, realizing by now that he wasn't making any progress with it, he fidgeted uncomfortably as Sora continued, eventually making his way up his neck to glide his tongue up his ear, sending a sharp shiver down Roxas's spine, a sharp chuckle reaching his ear causing him to lean his forehead against the cool concrete wall in humiliation.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Roxas felt relieved as Sora was pulled off him, then terrified as he was roughly grabbed and tugged along, out into the hallway where a tall silver haired teen stood (someone he wouldn't know as Riku for awhile), holding a large piece of paper, written across it in sharpie, "Do Not Disturb Sora's Bitch Training." The sign was crumpled up and stuffed into his pocket, a sly smirk sliding over the tall teen's face.

That day was the first day that Roxas was exposed to the entire catastrophe that was Sora, watching with pure rage as, despite the clear evidence of the **_hickeys_** on his neck, Larxene failed to be a real principal and let Sora go after some debate. Sora said that he was just showing his "_affection"_ to him, that he was just "_expressing"_ himself towards Roxas. It was so obvious; he should've been suspended _at the very least!_ But he walked free instead, and Roxas was forced to face the rest of the day, and next couple days, with the bruises trailing along his neck bright as day.

He should've switched schools back then.

Sora's hand latched onto his arm, a bright smirk smoothed out across his face, making Roxas scowl at him, "What?"

"_You_ kissed me **back**."

"I did not! I just told you that forcing yourself on me doesn't mean that I kissed you back!" Roxas snapped back at him, grimacing violently as the brunette just seemed to lean closer to him.

"But… You **_did_** kiss me back."

"But I DIDN'T."

Sora's lips were suddenly shoved onto his again, causing every bone in Roxas's body to jump and vibrate, but he reacted this time, he definitely reacted. Sora's yelp was muffled, but clear as day as Roxas bit down hard on his lip, the brunette leaping back to throw a hand up to his bleeding lip, looking at the blonde in surprise as he received a glare. But he just smirked back at him, that same poisonous gleam in his sapphire eyes, "Oooh, _Roxie_, kinky."

Roxas's glare doubled, or tripled, or just increased to an incredible amount that the blonde was actually beginning to feel a little dizzy from the rage. He looked ready to jump up and scream something at Sora, the brunette continuing to smirk as he waited for it, waited for the explosion that the blonde was sure to host. His smirk beginning to turn down in confusion as he just watched the frosted blue eyes slip shut, the teen's chest expanding and contracting as he took deep breaths, making him realize that the explosion he was waiting for, would be an _implosion_.

Sora found himself about to protest the way the blonde just suppressed the anger, but found himself interrupted by Zexion, the doctor coming back with the ace bandage and brace he'd mentioned earlier. The brunette fell back in his chair, huffing angrily as he pouted and watched Zexion give Roxas directions on how to properly wear the brace, Roxas listening like he really hadn't ever worn one. Then again, he probably lived a prissy spoiled life up until this moment; he'd probably never experienced real physical pain before since he was a kid or something, most likely, he never actually needed one until know.

His eyes turned to look around the room again, accidentally, gaze immediately locking onto the passed out man across from Roxas, the towel hanging down away from his head, barely staying in his grasp, the blood soaked head revealing what definitely looked like…

Grunting as his stomach took a turn for the worse, he jumped up from his chair—suddenly surprising the two and making them look up at him. Sora grinned nervously and grabbed Roxas's uninjured wrist to tug the teen out of the bed, "Well, we done here? Good, good, thanks for the help, Doc, we'll be seeing ya…"

Sora looped Roxas's arm around his shoulders as he spoke quickly, practically dragging the boy after him as he half dashed out of the room, much to Roxas's protests. Once out of the room, and a couple feet down the hall, Sora sighed in relief as he saw the exit, a soft breeze blowing in to rush over his face and cool them off. Roxas was grumbling in protest against him as he slowed down to help him properly limp down the hall, they were about to finally get out before the lady at the counter stopped them, holding a popsicle out for Roxas to take.

Sora was sent into hysterics as the other boy politely accepted the treat, nodding to her in thanks before subtly punching Sora in the chest. The brunette continued to snicker as they walked out into the parking lot, leading him in the direction he remember Vanitas parking, he wandered down the row marked "D" as Roxas remained silent beside him, making him only slightly uneasy. Noticing the sun was beginning to set, he frowned as he thought about how long they must have spent inside the hospital. Much too long in his opinion, the hospital always seemed to be able to eat up too much of his time.

The sound of ripping paper was heard, and so he glanced over to see Roxas spitting the wrapper of the Popsicle out onto the pavement before shoving the frozen treat into his mouth, making Sora's mouth practically water… Strike that, it _was_ watering.

He gulped heavily as Roxas slid the treat in and out of his mouth, pulling it out every minute or so to lap up the drops at the base, he almost walked clear past their car, he would have if Roxas had not noticed. Opening the back seat door to let Roxas in and then slide in next to him, looking up only to jump as he noticed Vanitas turned around in the driver's seat, glaring at Roxas.

"Where was your fucking cousin?"

Roxas blinked in confusion for a moment, eyebrows receding to hide behind his short bangs as Vanitas's anger only seemed to rise, "E-Excuse me?"

"Where. Is. Your. Fucking. Cousin?" He snapped, golden eyes turning venomous as the glare intensified, showing to Roxas another reason why his pathetic glares would obviously not bother Sora, "Where is Ventus? I got my fucking STD test and all that bullshit! And he didn't even fucking SHOW UP! So where the fuck was he?"

"I don't know!" Roxas nearly squealed it back to him, pressing himself back into the leather interior of the car in slight fear of the man in front of him, trying to ignore the fact that Sora was snickering next to him.

Sora smirked at Vanitas tauntingly, "Aw, were you stood up? Maybe he was just saving the time of the awkward break-up if your tests come back positive?"

Vanitas's venomous glare found a new target as they zero-ed in on his own cousin, then snorted and turned to face the front, "I'm gonna fucking kill something, just watch me, I'm gonna fucking kill something, and I'll kill it real good, too…"

Sighing to himself, Roxas began to tune out the sound of Sora teasing his cousin, Vanitas practically biting his head off every couple of seconds to get back at him as he only spent half his attention on driving. The blonde instead found his mind wandering over the past couple years, of the incidents he had been put through because of Sora. One in particular jumped to his mind the most clearly.

Junior year—last year—Sora had gotten "someone" (read as: Seifer) to paint a single phrase over his locker, one that brought back tormenting memories of his first day at their school, and the consequential half a year's worth of teasing.

_"Sora's Bitch!"_


	6. Chapter 6

**_This took an unbearably long time to write. That angers me so deeply. I think I re-wrote this a million times by now, trying to make it just right, and it's still not exactly the way I want it. Now I have to go write an outline for it so that I don't forget what I want to write in the future for this story. That being said... If there is anything you want to see in particular for the future of the story, speak up now! I could seriously use some idea because I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this, I'm dealing with vague events and no details in my own head._**

**_Well, I have a shorter week because of Columbus Day (I've never been more appreciative of this day), and I've gotten a lot of work done with my college applications, so I may be able to get the next chapter out next weekend... Or not. Don't get your hopes up, but be aware that I am working on it, I'm just busy and slow. :P_**

**_I hope you guys like this chapter!_**

_**Chapter 6**_

"Take me home right now."

Sora glanced over to the boy next to him in surprise for a moment before huffing in irritation. He supposed that it was logical for Roxas to want to go home; it was understandable why he would want to go home, but… Damn it! He hasn't gotten anywhere with him yet! If Roxas left now, what would his impression be? That Sora was poor, possibly evil, perverted, a damn good kisser? While that last one wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Roxas to think, it wasn't exactly what he wanted Roxas to _only_ think of him…

Unless it convinced him to jump on into bed with Sora—then Sora wouldn't have too much trouble with him thinking that.

But Roxas was too much of a prude to do something like that, and Sora knew he would have to seriously work to get Roxas, especially since he wasn't completely sure that he only wanted the guy for sex… He wasn't dumb, he knew it would be pretty damn stupid to pine after the same person for almost four years only for sex, he obviously would have just had sex with someone else and then gotten over Roxas. But he didn't get over him… and he did have sex with other people! Plenty of other people…

If it was lust or if it was actually some genuine interest in the other, Sora didn't really care, because either way Roxas wouldn't even given him a second glance if he left now. He had to get him to stay somehow, there had to be something he could say that would make Roxas stay just a little longer. Or at least just long enough to secure him a chance to get more time with the boy in the future, so he could properly seduce him and see if he actually felt more than just lust for the kid.

He was beginning to become suspicious that he did, what with lusting after him for almost four years now…

"I still have your stuff back at home…"

"Give it back on Monday," Roxas snapped quickly, making Sora hide a wince as he turned away, "Just get me home, Vanitas."

"Is your cousin gonna be there? 'Cause I ain't driving that fucking far without anything being in it for me," Vanitas grumbled to himself as he continued to drive, a sharp curse slipping from his lips every moment or two as he expressed his free hatred to other life forms at the moment.

Roxas frowned and pulled out his cell-phone, ignoring the way the sun was beginning to set as he flipped it open and began texting his cousin for the boy's whereabouts. Less than a minute later, he got his reply, "He's been there all day."

A sharp left turn combined with inertia caused the blonde's body to be launched to the right side of the car, gasping in pain as he felt his wrist being squished between him and Sora's body. Clutching at his injury, he blinked away the pain as he listened to Sora yell at Vanitas' rough driving before he realized how close he was to the brunette. His body going stiff, he could feel his face heat up slightly as he felt Sora's warm arms around him. Despite how much he would hate to admit it, he found the position so entirely comfortable.

That's why he threw himself away from the other, ignoring the pain it caused his ankle and wrist as he focused all his attention out the window, watching the city of Hollow Bastion speed away into Radiant Garden, rushing closer to his home at twice the speed that was legal. Sora just watched him though, frowning to himself as he felt his heart begin to sink slightly. He really hated this feeling; he didn't like feeling so much over some guy.

Most of the ride was spent in silence after that, Vanitas' car squealing to a stop in front of his home. Vanitas spinning around to stare at the blonde, "Shit, **this** is your house?"

"Well, I live in it, if that's what you're asking," Roxas huffed before attempting to shove the door open, grunting as he realized it was jammed.

Sora sighed and kicked his door open, getting out before helping the boy out also. Letting himself double as a crutch, the three climbed the few marble steps to the front door, about to enter when the door was suddenly swung open as a small pale girl jumped out to envelope Roxas in a hug. Roxas sighed and rested his free arm around her, making Sora feel slightly awkward being slightly caught in the hug with this unfamiliar girl… Wait, could this be Naminé? He would expect a concerned sister or girlfriend to act like this. But, being so up to date with Roxas' dating habits (or lack thereof, thanks to Sora's territorial aggressiveness that he likes to extend to all potential suitors), he highly doubted this was anyone but his sister.

Guess Axel wouldn't need to introduce them now.

"Roxas, are you alright? Where have you been? You never returned any of my calls! Do you have any idea how you scared me?"

"Nami, calm down, I'm fine. I was just… at a _'friend's'_ house."

Sora fought the urge to snicker when Roxas gritted those words out, finding it humorous that Roxas had such trouble calling him a friend, despite feeling a bit disheartened by it at the same time. Fortunately, Vanitas didn't give Sora much time to dwell on such depressing thoughts for too long, finding a need to stir up drama where it was in plenty.

"Where the **fuck** were _you_?" Vanitas suddenly boomed from beside Sora as Ventus appeared in the doorway. Charging forward past Naminé to just step over the threshold of the home, Vanitas got right up into Ventus' face, snarling at him viciously, "You tell me to get fucking tested like you're actually planning to do something with me, like you're actually interested in me, and then you just don't show up for the appointment?"

"I-I-" Ventus stuttered for a couple moments, eyes dropping down to the floor as his face began to turn red, "You-Well, Nami, she called me, and-and, I couldn't just-"

"Vanitas!" Sora snapped up the steps to his cousin, glaring harshly at him as the guy turned around angrily, "Take it somewhere else! No one wants to hear it!"

Vanitas sneered at him before grasping Ventus' wrist quickly, dragging him down the steps and into the backseat of his car. Sora huffed in irritation before turning back to Naminé, smiling politely, "I'm really sorry, he's mentally ill, please just ignore him."

Roxas glared at him out of the corner of his eyes, but turned the gaze to Naminé in surprise when he heard her soft giggling, "Uh, Nami?"

She smiled and reached a hand out to Sora, "You're this friend Roxas stayed with, right? Well, thank you for taking such good care of him-"

"'Such good care?' Look at me! Do I look like I was well taken care of?" Roxas snapped at her, making the girl look at him closer and gasp as her eyes finally seemed to fall on his hurt wrist and the way he was leaning against Sora, "Did it really take you that long to notice it? Just how worried were you?"

"Give her a break! She's your sister!" Sora frowned at him, beginning to climb the stairs and drag the blonde behind him. Naminé looked after him in surprise for a moment before turning around and looking back to Vanitas' car, concern for her cousin, but sighed as she decided to let him work out his problems with his boyfriend himself. She ran back into the house, darting through the welcome hall and into one of the dens. Entering the first one, though, she sighed as she walked in on what looked to be Roxas and Sora arguing about something.

Figured, Roxas finally brings home someone who looked like a good potential boyfriend and he has to act like an ass to him. She frowned softly and walked into the room, taking a seat on the sofa they were arguing in front of, she listened in on their fight.

Sora had let Roxas go, letting him stand on his own, glaring and scowling at him, "I wasn't trying to molest you! Grabbing your ass once can't count as molesting!"

"That **does** count as molesting, you idiot! It's an inappropriate and unwelcomed touch! That's called sexual harassment!"

"You're just trying to hide your embarrassment by acting angry…" Sora grinned mischievously, slowly inching closer to Roxas, who was backing up slowly, his face turning red in rage, "You actually liked it, didn't you?"

Roxas glared at him hotly, a bitten scowl smeared across his face, "I fucking hate-"

"Roxas!" Said boy jumped as he turned his head to look down at his sister, "I'm sure he was just joking, sit down and introduce your friend already!"

Roxas scowled, turning to glare at Sora once more before sighing and limping over to sit next to his sister, "Naminé, my _'friend'_ Sora. Sora, this is my older sister, Naminé."

Sora turned his grin into a smile, reaching out to shake the blonde girl's hand, "A pleasure to meet you, Roxas really makes you out to be an angel. I can't say I disagree."

Naminé's face lit up in a pink blush, ignoring the disgusted look on Roxas' face, her brother looking ready to snap and attack their guest. But she just smiled over at him brightly, "You're going to marry him, right?"

Roxas' jaw dropped in shock, his eyes gone wide as his face turned bright red once again, just managing to squeak a pathetic word out, "Wh-What?"

Sora smiled back at her similarly, turning his attention to Roxas with a shameless look in his eyes, "Definitely. Now, Rox, do you want a traditional wedding, in a church and everything? We'll have to get your dress sized."

"I-What?" Roxas stuttered, looking over to glower at his sister's giggling, "Both of you just shut up! I'm going to bed!" He limped out of the room quickly, his head down to hide his face from both of the other's views.

Sora sighed heavily as he left the room, leaving him alone with the blonde girl on the couch. He turned, figuring he should probably say goodbye and head on home, he would just persist in building some kind of relationship with Roxas on Monday, but Naminé smiled up at him and patted the seat next to her where Roxas had been. He nodded in surprise and sat next to her, leaning back with a sigh of relief as the comfortable cushions clearly kicked the ass out of his crappy couch at home, he could get used to cushions like these.

"Sora," He looked over to her after her pause, his expression blank as he waited patiently. Her own expression was warm, something he knew as familiar, used to seeing a similar expression on the face of a mother thinking about her child. It kind of disturbed him to see that look on the face of Roxas' sister, though. Why was she the one with this expression?

"Do you like Roxas?" She spoke softly, her voice settling gently around the room, nearly lulling him into some kind of calm.

He bit his lip in thought, turning his attention down to the plush tan carpet beneath his feet as he weighed his answers. He could tell the boy's sister and she could have a number of reactions, the most common ones would probably either be her disgusted by him (unlikely seeing as how she probably knew Ventus was gay and still seemed to be close to him), or to completely support him… Or he could just deny how much he wanted Roxas and leave her out of all of it, despite the beneficial factors of winning her support.

Taking another glance over to her warm expression, a knowing glint in her eyes, he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to her convincingly, "Yep, I got it pretty bad for him, I think. But I could just want sex with him, I'm not really sure."

She nodded slowly, and then turned her eyes over to him again, "How about you stay for the night? It's beginning to get pretty late, and I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

Sora nodded slowly, then grinned, "Do I get to stay in Roxie's room?"

Naminé grinned back at him with a sort of mischief that Sora would never had expected from the small blonde girl, "Only if you promise me you'll use protection."

Sora's jaw dropped, silence stretching out over the couple of shocked moments after those words left Naminé's mouth.

_**IT'S AN AWESOME LINE YOU GUYS! I BET YOU'VE BEEN MISSING THESE, HUH?**_

Roxas groaned as he fell back onto his bed, curling up in the warm sheets. He breathed deeply as he felt the queasy feelings churning in the pit of his stomach, something that seemed to resemble anger, confusion, resentment, and something he wasn't even going to try to identify. Not because he was afraid to find out, but more because he just didn't care to know and let it control the outcome of his life.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, curling his fists into the comforter to tug it up to his chin. All that he really wanted right now was to fall into some deep sleep and not wake up for a _really_ long time. Or at least long enough to get away from the chaos Sora was causing in his gut.

Nothing was really making much sense to him at the moment, not because he was actually confused, he was sure he could figure everything out just fine if he were running on a good night sleep. But he couldn't think straight, he was just so tired right now. So he let his mind go heavy with the sleep, he forgot about Sora having his stuff, and that Naminé had said that stuff in front of Sora, _and _that Sora had _kissed _him.

At least, he tried to forget about that last one.

He _kissed _him, more like mouth-raped him. Right there in the emergency room, too, with that guy bleeding from the head screaming across from them, Sora just climbed right on him and started molesting his lips. Why hadn't he flipped out? Why didn't he punch him or something, like a normal **straight** guy would? Instead he just sat there and let his lips be vandalized!

A shiver ran up his spine and made him shift a bit uncomfortably as he remembered the kiss, the lips pressed against his own so hard, Sora's warm breathing rushing across his cheek. He could remember how it felt like his skin was tingling with every touch of Sora's fingers, how he had to consciously make an effort to not arch into those hands…

He sighed loudly, rolling over angrily as he tried to shake those thoughts from his head.

He was going to have a hard time falling asleep tonight.

_**I'M MAKING A RELATED STORY TO THIS ONE, ABOUT VANITAS AND VENTUS AND THEIR ISSUES!**_

Sora had finished having dinner with Naminé, Vanitas, and Ventus, the two boys deciding to also stay over for the night. It hadn't been as eventful as he had first thought it would have been. Vanitas was, apparently, no longer angry with Ventus anymore, the blonde boy himself was pretty quiet to begin with, and Naminé spent most of the time just asking Sora some common questions. You know—the questions that had to do with his intentions towards Roxas, so he obviously spent most of the time stumbling over his answers.

Normally, he was a quick thinker, and he almost always knew what to say to get his way, but Naminé was something else. She just fired one question after another, and the pressure she applied on him just made him too uneasy to lie to her, not to mention that he wasn't even completely sure about his own feelings for the blonde teen. True, four years is a ridiculously long time to lust after someone, and it would sound a little ridiculous to say he didn't have any feelings for the guy. But he just couldn't be sure, he's never really been serious with anyone before, so he wouldn't even know himself.

As he slowly pried open the door to Roxas' bedroom, stepping inside the dark room and walking up to the bed quietly, he sighed as his eyes fell over the form of Roxas in the covers. No, he wasn't really going to sleep in the same bed as Roxas tonight, that had just been some teasing, he knew where he wasn't yet welcomed. That didn't mean he couldn't just check up on the boy, though, he did have reason for concern since he didn't show up for dinner.

He took a seat beside the body on the bed, reaching out with his fingers to gently touch some of the golden strands of the soft hair. He wasn't aware of the smile rising itself to his face as he brushed the strands away to reveal the sleeping face, the eyelids fluttering lightly in his unconsciousness. Little bits of moonlight, from outside the curtains covering his windows, managed to provide some light to soften the edges of his now innocent expression. He sighed and withdrew his hand, frowning to himself as he continued to let his gaze rest on the boy next to him.

He refused to believe that he was growing affectionate for him, or at least highly doubted that, but he wouldn't deny that he felt more than just lust for the guy. Anyone else, he would have had them in bed without caring what they thought in the morning, and he would've gotten that done way faster than four years. But Roxas wasn't anyone else, and he did seem to care what he thought. It wasn't something he liked to admit, he didn't want to really think that Roxas was someone he would actually convince himself that he liked for more than just his body.

It wasn't like him, it wasn't like any of the other men in his family, it wasn't something that he was raised to believe in. His uncle never settled down with a wife, even after having a child, his older cousin basically defined himself as a player, and even his own mother ran out on his father. He brought a hand up to grasp the dog tags around his neck, sighing deeply with the thought of his father in his mind.

He didn't really give much of a damn about his mother, she could rot in hell, but his father had been a good man.

He shook the thoughts from his head, fighting back a yawn as he stood and took another glance down at the blonde in bed. He reached down one more time, brushing his finger tips across the cheek softly for another lingering moment, then turned to quietly leave the room and return to his own.

His own room being Roxas' front room.

He knew he wasn't welcomed in the same bed as the guy, but he never said anything about the couch.

_**I'M GOING TO CALL THE STORY ABOUT VANITAS AND VENTUS **__**TECHNICOLOR**__**! IF YOU'RE INTERESTED...**_

Waking up the next morning, Roxas didn't move for the first half hour, hoping to himself that he had just dreamt everything up. But the pain that shot through his leg the moment he moved it to roll over, he knew it wasn't just a dream. His stomach made a sound that told Roxas it was beginning to devour itself, so he threw the covers off himself and sighed as he got up. Standing slowly, he winced slightly as he put weight on his injured ankle, although it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been the day before.

He didn't limp as much on his walk towards his dressing room, walking through it to the bathroom. He rubbed his eye with his good wrist as the door swung open, but the cloud of steam that rushed into him made him freeze the second he walked into the room. His eyes snapped open, and his ears suddenly caught the sound of his shower running, leaving him standing there in surprise as he turned his gaze up to look at his shower stall. The glass was fogged up, he couldn't see anything through it, but that didn't matter, because it still meant someone was in his shower.

He quickly and silently slipped back into the dressing room, quietly shutting the door again behind him. Taking a deep breath, he backed up to take a seat on black love seat in front of the wall of mirrors, his closet standing against the wall next to him, he ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to think of who that could possibly be in his shower. The only person he knew who would have the guts to be so rude would have to be Sora though, but he highly doubted that it was Sora who was in his bathroom. Naminé wouldn't invite him over for the night without talking to Roxas first…

Would she?

He was soon answered when the door swung open, and Sora stepped out in a steam cloud, grinning brightly as he walked towards Roxas. He looked very much satisfied with his luxurious shower, as the one back where he lived didn't even run warm water at the moment, never mind massager settings on the nozzle. Of course, none of that was really noticed by Roxas, as his eyes had immediately locked onto the crown necklace and the dog tags still attached to the collar around his neck, trailing down his toned chest to gaze at the faint outline of his abs. The tan skin that looked like it would be hot to the touch, the narrow and strong looking hips, the towel Sora was wearing around his hips riding lower and lower as he walked closer to him, his stare was locked onto the edge of that towel that slipped a centimeter farther with every step.

Gulping heavily, he looked away sharply to hide any kind of embarrassment, "Put on some clothes! You can't just walk around like this in someone else's home, especially after being so rude as to use their shower without their consent, too!"

Sora blinked in surprise for a moment before grinning again, reaching out to wrap an arm around Roxas' back, letting his fingers toy with the bottom hem of his shirt. He brought his lips as close to Roxas' ear as he could, the boy making it hard for him as he continued to look as far away from him as possible. He whispered hot breath into his ear, grin becoming more devious as he watched the teen turn red and tense, "But you liked seeing my body, didn't you? Your eyes were all over me the second I got out of that bathroom. You sure you want me to put clothes on? I'd be happy to pass as long as you undressed a bit as well…"

A soft tug on Roxas' shirt made the blonde jump away, turning his head to glare directly into Sora's sapphire eyes—and not letting them wander anywhere else, "I was **not** looking at you like that! Just-just p-put some damn clothes on! I'm taking a shower!"

Sora smiled as he watched the other angrily stalk back into the bathroom, leaving him alone in the dressing room, restraining his laughter until after Roxas had closed the door behind himself. Throwing a hand over his mouth, he bent over a bit as his body shook with his amusement; Roxas was just so cute sometimes, he would never be aware of it, though. Calming down, he straightened and caught the sight of himself in the towel in the mirrors against the wall. He smirked as he looked down at his body, he didn't think he was amazingly good looking, but he was definitely attractive. He shivered as he remembered the way Roxas' eyes had changed as they watched him, making him bit his lip and sigh in frustration, sometimes he really just wanted to throw that guy against some hard surface and have his way with him, despite consequences.

The muffled sound of the shower being turned on snapped his attention away from himself, making him grin playfully as he walked over to the bathroom door, quickly opening it and jumping inside the room, "Roxie!"

He heard the blonde's yelp as he watched in amusement as the boy rushed to pull his pants back up, covering his chest as he turned to glare at Sora again. Yeah, it had been his goal to interrupt Roxas in some state of undress, but he hadn't been expecting for it to actually work, he had figured Roxas would have seen it coming or something. Guess he wasn't as clever as Sora had first thought he was. He grinned in satisfaction either way, not bothering to hide the fact he was staring at Roxas' bare chest as he continued to talk, "I don't have any clothes with me, can I borrow some?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, go away!" Roxas snapped back, his glare doubling as Sora just nodded slowly, inching out of the room like he was caught in some slow motion video camera, "Get out already!"

Sora's grin persisted even after he closed the door behind himself, a new bounce in his step as he walked towards the dresser, throwing it open to see only dress clothes and one spare school uniform, and his grin reached a new level of joy. He grabbed the school uniform and began dressing in it quickly, thoughts of Roxas crawling back to his home to find him and his uniforms, and trading sex to get them back, filling his day dreams.

Today had to be the best day ever.

_**AND ANOTHER AWESOME LINE? I'M JUST FULL OF THEM TODAY! ISN'T IT AMAZING?**_

Roxas sighed heavily in relief as he inched the door of the bathroom open and saw his dressing room empty. Sora wasn't around to see him in a towel, so he quickly walked out and rushed up to his closet, throwing it open. While in the shower, he had realized that it was Monday, he had school! How the weekend had gone by so fast, he had no idea, but it didn't matter now.

Now he would get dressed, go to school, get his stuff back from Sora at some point, and go on with his life like none of this had ever happened. Unfortunately, he could only dream this would be what happened, because as he searched his closet, he realized Sora had taken his last uniform.

Angry wouldn't be a proper description of what he was feeling now. He huffed in aggravation, taking a couple steps back to sit on the loveseat once again. As he saw it now, he had two options that Sora left him with, to go to school in his casual clothes and be looked down on for it as he should be setting an example while being on the Student Council, or lie and stay home "sick" so that he wouldn't have to face that humiliation, also putting a bad mark on his reputation as he hasn't missed a day since he started school there.

… But maybe he could call up Hayner and borrow a uniform? Could he trust Hayner to come to his rescue and not say anything about it to anyone else? Did he have a choice in the matter?

He walked back into his bedroom, grabbing his cell phone from underneath his pillow and flipping it open to search the contacts.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Finally! It's another chapter! :D Um, I'm not sure what else to say besides I'm sorry for taking so long? I should have more time for the next week or so, but I'm leaving for Thailand in two weeks for a month, and I don't know if I will have any time to write while over there._**

**_I think this chapter turned out pretty well, to tell the truth, I hope you guys like it too!_**

_**Chapter 7**_

Roxas pushed through the front doors of the school, jogging with Hayner on his heels towards their homeroom while the bell began to ring for the start of the day. He stepped through the threshold on the last ring and his eyes unconsciously locked on to the slouched form of a brunette in the back corner of the class, Kairi sitting in front of him with Riku at his only available side. He glared at him intensely, seeing the smug smirk on Sora's face as he shifted around in the untidily worn uniform,_ his_ uniform.

That was _two_ uniforms that Sora had in his possession that belonged to Roxas, the only two that the blonde owned, leaving Roxas to borrow one from his best friend, Hayner. But Hayner was both taller, and more muscular than him, and so the crisp white dress shirt sleeves went about an inch past his fingers and the dress pants were long and loose, making him wear a belt and become irritated more and more about tripping over the pant legs. He said nothing to voice his rage towards the brunette though, both because there was no more time to talk now that homeroom had begun, and because he didn't want to openly associate with Sora during school.

He huffed silently, unconsciously pouting as he walked to his seat, directly front and center, sitting down on Olette's right and in front of Pence as Hayner took the seat to his right. Homeroom began as the teacher finally rushed in, Ms. Gainsborough looking flustered as usual as she tried to sort through all the daily morning papers, finally finding the one with the senior class announcements as soon as the intercom turned on to do the school announcements, making her sigh in defeat as she just turned around to write them on the board silently as per usual. Roxas rolled his eyes at it, read through them quickly, his eyes lighting up at what he had read.

Class Advisories were starting today, all classes being cut short by a few minutes to make time at the end of the day for small groups of students to meet and form friendships outside their normal circle of friends, an exercise to support class unity and prevent bullying in school. Roxas had brought the idea up to the principal a while ago, but Larxene had just laughed at it before she realized what having advisories did to the school's reputation, and she immediately set to work on forming them. He hoped he would get a good group and teacher for it though, or it might just really suck instead.

But either way, this was great; this meant he would be graduating from an even better school, get into an even better prestigious college, get a Master's degree, and get an even better life overall. So this was great for him, but by the resounding groans around the classroom, most people didn't seem to agree with him. Understandable, he didn't exactly want to do these stupid advisories either, they seemed rather pointless to him, as it was basically shoving a bunch of people who may or may not hate and/or care about each other into the same room for an extended amount of time. Like anyone really wants to do that, but he supposed that as long as you get a group and a teacher that aren't too bad, then it could just turn out to be a good break from the school day.

It wouldn't be that bad, he was sure of that, he could probably deal with almost any group that could be chosen for him. Just so long as _Sora_ wasn't in it, he was sure he would be fine.

Then Ms. Gainsborough placed a piece of paper on his desk, and he felt like a small part of him curled into a corner and died.

_**I'M SORRY IT'S TAKING SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE GUYS, I'M REALLY BUSY RECENTLY, I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO NOW, IT'S KILLING ME!**_

OH. GOD. NO.

Sora felt like all his hopes and dreams were just murdered. Well, all his hopes and dreams for today at least. This was going to suck so bad, who would ever want to sit around in a circle and talk about their feelings with people they didn't like or care about? No one except Roxas.

Sora frowned as he remembered the day he pushed Roxas in the fountain, smirking as he had come up with that clever speech afterwards to give him a chance to make up an excuse for doing it in the first place. He had really done it because some girl had been making moves on the blonde and Sora hadn't liked the idea at all, but he couldn't have exactly said that, now could he? Good thing he remembered that Roxas had been pushing the advisories idea; it was such an awful idea that blaming it on rage towards the thought of advisories was perfectly understandable.

He huffed and looked over to Riku, seeing his best friend's intense scowl and glare as he was probably thinking something along the same lines as him, then turned his attention ahead to look at his other friend, Kairi, but the girl looked to already be texting all about this to everyone else in the entire fucking school. Sora couldn't help but wonder how many people were on her contacts list, the last time he checked, it was in the 200's, and that was only a week after she had gotten her new phone. 200 is about the size of their class…

Sora blinked for a moment then leaned forward, whispering to the redhead, "Hey, Kai, do you got Roxas' number?"

She snapped her gum quietly as she pressed some buttons on her phone, finally turning her attention away from the messaging contraption and looking over her shoulder to Sora, "Yep, I got Olette, Hayner, and Pence's too."

Sora felt one of his eyebrows rise in skepticism, "You're like a phone book."

"I** am** the phone book, Hon, Yellowbook got nothing on me," She looked back down to her phone, quickly texting back to a few messages she just received, "So why did you want to know? You don't got a phone to text your little boyfriend anyways."

Sora scowled at her heavily, "He isn't my boyfriend yet."

"'Yet,' Nami told me last night all about you and Roxas. You totally kissed him, didn't you? She said Roxas never acts that angry around just anyone, you definitely kissed him, and probably grabbed his ass or something," She didn't even look up at him when she said this, making Sora's jaw go slack slightly.

"How did you know? And when did you start talking to Naminé again? I thought you hated her."

Kairi snorted, "That was forever ago Sora, get with the program, I'm not so petty to hold a grudge like that. And you're so obvious, it's painful. Just ask Riku, I bet he knows too, and he doesn't even have the connections that I do."

Sora frowned as she turned forward again in her seat, her thumb flying across the buttons on the small device. He slowly turned to look at his silver haired friend warily, the guy now looking at a piece of paper Ms. Gainsborough had begun passing out to the students. He sighed and leaned closer towards his desk, "Hey, Riku, do you know what I did this weekend?"

Riku looked at him with a look that would make any man want to shrivel up and die, any man except Sora that is, but it did manage to make Sora lean back into his seat again. The silver-haired teen rolled his eyes and smirked eventually, though, unwillingly slightly amused by the brunette, "Let me guess, you managed to get Roxas to stick around with you for most of it and sexually harassed him."

"Grabbing his ass once can NOT count as sexual harassment!" Sora snapped back at him in annoyance, then sliding down in his seat and crossing his arms with a huff.

Riku smirked at him, "Yeah, good luck convincing him that. Who did you get in your advisory?"

Sora shrugged, "She didn't give me mine yet," Just as the words left his mouth, Ms. Gainsborough quickly handed him a small card and moved on in a rush, racing against the clock to pass out all the small cards to the students. Sora looked over the card quickly, a smirk rising to his face, "A bunch of people who I don't care about, and _him_."

Riku's smirk widened as he glanced across the room from underneath his long bangs, eyes burning like acid onto the form of the blonde boy, "You wanna make him a little reminiscent of freshman year, Sor?"

Sora grinned as he leaned back in his seat, "Hmm… tempting, but I think I got a better idea at the moment…"

_**LIKE ANYONE WASN'T EXPECTING THAT PAIR UP? SORRY GUYS, THAT PREDICTABLE CLICHÉ IS STAYING RIGHT THERE.**_

Roxas was having a tantrum, a full-blown five-year old's tantrum, and he was going to town with it.

Hayner sighed as he looked down at his blonde friend, who had currently decided to lay on the floor in the center of the empty Student Council room and groan and sigh and huff and puff like a child, all because he got placed in the same Advisory as one Sora Evans. Now, he understood about Roxas avoiding Sora at every possible twist and turn, but to have this kind of reaction is just ridiculous, not to mention he is wearing HAYNER'S uniform and getting all dirty on the floor!

"Hey, c'mon man, you're just gonna have to deal with it for one day, at least then you can just ask your teacher to switch you into another group, it won't be that bad for one day, right?" Hayner kneeled down next to his friend, raising an eyebrow as Roxas turned his head to look at him, then turned face down, gathered his arms around his face like a pillow, and screamed bloody murder into his skin.

Hayner jumped back a bit in surprise, "Hey, hey, relax, fine. Ask at the beginning of the advisory and hide in the bathroom for the entire thing. That better? Just hide on the toilet like a pussy, but Sora isn't going to ever leave you alone like that. Remember how Seifer used to treat us? Well, it's just like Seifer, you just got to stand up to these guys, and throw back punches when they're thrown at you."

"Sora doesn't get violent, he has others get violent for him. He just likes to give me a hard time and mess with my head…" He paused, his lips tingling as he remembered the scene in the emergency room, the pressure of the hot lips against his, "He just wants to cause trouble."

"Then cause _him_ trouble, give him what he wants and see how he really likes it. It's the same as throwing back a punch, except you guys are gonna get all psychotic with each other."

"Uh, you mean 'psychological.'"

"What?" Hayner made a weird face, and Roxas sighed to himself. It's not like he didn't already know that most of the kids in this school got in on money and looks, not grades. He would swear, he, Pence, and Olette were the only smart ones in this entire damn place, it just shows the priorities of this nation failing rapidly.

"Never mind, either way, I can't do something like that. I'm not manipulative like Sora is—I wouldn't **want** to do something like that."

Hayner snorted, standing and walking over to lean against the wall as Roxas finally pushed himself up into a sitting position, "Fine, be a pussy, but I think you're just being a punching bag for no reason. I mean, hell, I could get some sports teams to hunt him down after school, or we could get Olette to spread shit about him through all the girls, and you could get Pence to change his grades to failing and get him kicked out-"

"**No."**

Hayner looked over at Roxas in surprise at the sudden and flat answer, his brown eyes wide as they gazed upon the rigid figure of the pale boy, "He, believe it or not, really did work hard to get into this school. That would be going too far."

He watches Roxas stare at the floor for a moment before turning his eyes away, huffing in annoyance, "Well, we got to do something about him. He isn't going to just straighten out on his own. What do you suggest we do?"

Roxas frowns, shifting awkwardly as he turns his attention to the clock, nearly groaning in pain as he saw they had only five minutes until they had Advisories, possibly the worst idea he has come up with yet. Why, oh why, was fate so damn cruel to him? Seriously, can't it cut a guy a break yet? He dealt with the idiot for the entire weekend, now he has to see him again?

"I'll… I'll think of something, alright? We gotta get going now…" Roxas looked over to see Hayner giving him a strange look, making him frown in discomfort, "What?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing… I don't know, your voice just kind of sounds different…"

Roxas scrunched up his nose at that, "Very funny, bastard, I already hit puberty years ago. My voice hasn't changed at all since."

Hayner smirked at that, standing straight as he followed his friend out of the room. Deciding that, for now, he would just brush the whole thing off, and pretend he didn't hear what he thought he had in that sentence…

_**OMG! HAYNER, MY BUD, I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS IS BASICALLY YOU'RE FIRST AIR TIME AT ALL! YOU'LL HAVE MUCH MORE, PROMISE!**_

Roxas snuck into the classroom last minute, taking a quick glance around the room to see that most of the desks had been rearranged around in a circle, the teacher's desk included but sticking out as basically the head desk. He felt like he was being put in a jury or something, how disturbing.

He sighed, quickly taking the seat directly across from the teacher, looking up to see Mr. Ansem smile across to him, running a hand through his blonde strands as he looked down to check Roxas off on the attendance. He then took the chance to glance around the rest of the class, frowning at what he saw.

First up were two people who were never separated, Donald Duck and George Geef, or rather "Goofy." As per usual, Donald was still short, with spiked white hair and startlingly pale skin that stood out in stark contrast to the darker colors around him, especially compared to Goofy next to him, the guy was really tall and had long black hair and darkly tanned skin. Now, he supposed these two weren't all that bad deep down, but they were still not people who would most likely ever earn any respect from him. Not by the twitching and jittery motions of Donald as he smiled way too intensely, or the dazed and nearly completely closed eyes of Goofy as he grinned dumbly at the wall. No, he really didn't think they would ever gather any respect from Roxas, not even combined.

Third up was Fuu Jin, a very quiet Japanese girl, Roxas had never heard her speak more than one word at a time, and she would never give you a second glance for any reason. She seemed to always be pissed about something, and she really didn't look like she wanted to be here at the moment. Although, if Roxas had to guess, he would suppose she would likely wish to be with Seifer and Rai at the moment, they were something like a "posse," if memory served correctly. He didn't know much else about her besides that, though, she was mostly just a really mysterious, serious, and conserved girl.

Fourth was Selphie Tilmitt, a girl with a little black book in her purse and an open door policy to any boy, or sometimes girl. Sorry, Roxas didn't mean to imply anything, he'll just say straight out the girl was a dirty whore who would most likely just become an expensive prostitute after her parents finish paying for her college education. He knew she was actually a nice girl deep down though, he heard through Olette that even though she had probably slept with almost every guy in the entire school (including Sora, she so helpfully dropped in there, which just caused Roxas to feel disgusted in too many ways to count), she was also known to always be there for a friend. More than once she had gone out of her way to help some girl out of some trouble, or that is what he heard, so he figured she probably wasn't all bad.

Fifth, Wakka Auroch, a foreign kid from Besaid Island, and while Roxas didn't know him for all that long, he would have to say the guy sounded as dumb as the blitzball he keeps hitting him in the head with. Seriously, _every time_ he gets anywhere near the blitzball field, he'll get whacked right in the head because of Wakka. Does the guy have no aim at all? Besides that, he says "brudda" a lot, he tends to end his sentences with "ya," and the way Selphie is eyeing him up, he should be getting laid sometime this week.

Sixth, Tidus Zanarkand, the star blitzball player of the school, and basically the only guy in this entire group that Roxas figured was actually worth some time. He was fairly popular, a friendly guy who was quite easy to get along with, and his grades were actually quite good despite how many times a day he must head butt that damn blitz ball. At the moment, he was dating Yuna Mayuko, a very sweet girl who was just as likeable as him. He really found not much wrong with the guy except that he would sometimes get a little too excited about something, a little too passionate, and it could sometimes get a little annoying.

Then Roxas' gaze finally fell onto the sight he'd been dreading. _Sora._ And, what was this? Standing and chatting to a girl, pretty much completely oblivious to Roxas' existence? Like a dream come true it is. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two in the corner of the room, finally recognizing the short black-haired girl as Xion Uchida. He did a double take at that though, because he swore the last time he heard about her she had been sent to jail. Was she on probation now? What was Sora doing talking to her?

Sora suddenly began to chuckle at something causing Roxas to narrow his eyes in their direction, turning away to stare down at the desk in front of him, he crossed his arms and legs, making sure that he would look as nonchalant and uninterested as possible. Because he really wasn't interested, he really didn't care in the slightest bit about Sora or why Xion was around. He glanced down at the paper Ms. Gainsborough had handed him at the beginning of the day, scanning the names of the kids in his group until finally stumbling upon Xion's at the end. Well, what are the chances? How'd he miss that?

Last he heard, she'd been framed for some kind of convenience store robbery, someone threw a dark cloak over themselves and ran in, "accidentally" dropping her student I.D. on the way out. He had no idea what she's done to make someone want to frame her, but she had a pretty fiery personality, and she could be quite hot-headed, so he could see her accidentally upsetting someone. He didn't have anything against her really, though; saw no reason to have anything against her as she had never done anything too serious in school. She was actually a pretty average student, not really special in any way at all…

He watched from the corner of his eyes as she seemed to tease Sora quietly about something, her mysterious black eyes scrunching up in the corners as her pink lips rose in a mocking grin, Sora grinning back down at her brightly as he began laughing. She wasn't special at all… Nothing of interest…

So why was Sora of all people talking to a person like her?

_**OOOOH, SOMEONE'S MAKING ROXIE JEALOUS! UH-OH, UH-OH, IS ROXIE GONNA SMACK A HOE? JOKING, XION'S A GOOD GIRL… MOSTLY.**_

Sora grinned at the black haired girl, "Shut up, Xi, he might hear you."

Xion just smirked back at him, looking up at him but secretly watching Roxas out of the corner of her eyes, "Oh, but I'm serious, he's been staring at you for, like, a full ten minutes now. Maybe he's zoning out on your butt, you do have a pretty nice ass."

Sora snickered at that, "Yeah, but if he hears we know he's looking, then he's gonna completely shut us out, he's one of those types, y'know?"

"Hm, that doesn't sound like a guy who's just in it to get laid…"

Sora rolled his eyes, sighing lightly at his old friend, "Okay, fine, I might want a little bit more… like a blow."

She punched his shoulder as they laughed, sobering up after a minute of laughing as she finally sighed at him, "Just don't get too attached. Guys just lead you on until they get what they want, then turn around and dump your ass."

Sora raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you still hooked on Vanitas? You know he didn't know you had a crush on him when he did that to you, he thought you were just really drunk and horny."

She puffed out her cheeks, pouting fiercely, "Fucking dumbass, like I'd just sleep with anyone. Tell him that he broke my fucking heart and his death will not be a quick one."

Sora threw a comforting arm around her, "Aw, relax; you know he's a hoe."

"It's no excuse!"

"Okay!" Sora looked up over to Mr. Ansem quickly, knowing what the next words would be as he quickly ran over to the seats, jumping into the one right next to Roxas, much to the blonde's chagrin, "Everyone take a seat, we'll begin."

Sora smirked as Xion took the seat on the other side of Roxas, making the blonde slide down slightly in his seat in discomfort, then turned his attention back to Mr. Ansem, "First, we'll begin by getting to know everyone. You're going to say your full name, a nick name, and then a descriptive word that begins with the first letter of your name. I'll go first.

"I'm Ansem, a dear friend of mine calls me 'Ansem the Wise,' and I'm admirable."

Sora rolled his eyes, looking over to the first person in line: Donald, "I'm Donald, my girlfriend, Daisy, calls me Donnie sometimes, and I'm… dead?"

Ansem forced a laugh, "No, no, you're not dead, Donald."

"Just wait until Daisy sees me like this…"

"Uh, right, so Goofy…"

The tall teen stands slowly, swaying a bit as he reaches his full height, "Garsh, I'm George, everyone calls me Goofy, and I'm goofy!" He started laughing obnoxiously, causing a slight head ache rise in Roxas' head but he shrugged it off.

Sora also frowned at that, rolling his eyes a bit before he redirected his attention to the next person. She stood up quickly, staring directly at Mr. Ansem, "My name's Fuu, I'm called Fuu, I'm Fuu."

She sat down just as quickly, a strangled prescence coming over the classroom, causing everyone to unanimously decide that "Fuu" would become a new adjective now, just for her sake. And so the attention shifted to Sora himself, next in line, the brunette jumping up to grin around the classroom, "I'm Sora, I'm called Brownie by my friend Axel, and I'm…"

He trailed off slowly before slowly turning to Roxas, making the blonde begin sliding further down his seat, just too late though as Sora's arm wrapped around his shoulders and dragged him against the brunette, a tongue sneaking out of his lips to trace its way up the boy's neck. He stopped suddenly, let him go, and fell back in his seat, leaving the blonde to blush and stare at him incredulously, "And I'm sexy."

Roxas just stared at Sora's taunting smirk angrily a moment, before he realized it was his turn, forcing himself to brush away the thought of what kind of teacher was Ansem for not saying anything about what Sora just did, and for missing his chance to actually punch Sora in the face because of shock, he stood awkwardly in front of the class, "I'm Roxas, I'm called Rox by friends-"

Sora suddenly coughed loudly, the word "Roxie" being heard quite loudly in it, making Roxas scowl at him, but sigh and shrug it off, "And I'm rare."

Sora had another coughing fit suddenly, one that sounded strangely like "rock ass." But he tried to ignore it, his eyebrow twitching unconsciously as he felt some sort of godforsaken rage building in the pit of his stomach as all attention was suddenly transferred to Xion. The young black haired girl stood, putting a hand on her hip as she spoke, "Well, I'm Xion, some people call me Xi, and… damn, what's a good word that starts with X?"

Everyone was silent, Selphie speaking up a little, "Xylophone?"

"That's not an adjective," Roxas corrected, turning to Ansem, "I don't think we'll find one. Couldn't she just use a word that starts with a 'sh' sound instead?"

Ansem nodded quickly, "Sure, sure, that will do perfectly fine in your case, dear."

"Well, then I'm shocking!" She sat down quickly, smiling her thanks to Roxas who just nodded back and turned to look at Selphie next, pretending like Xion wasn't there at all.

Sora frowned at the lack of attention on him though, he loved the idea of having Advisories with Roxas and all, but he didn't want to just spend the entire time sitting there next to him and not doing anything. He got away with what he did earlier somehow, it had probably just been the most action Ansem's seen in years, and Roxas looked like he had been in shock. He wondered how far he'd be able to take it, to tell the truth, until someone would stop him.

He shifted in his seat to the side a bit, gently reaching out to drag his fingers along Roxas' pant leg teasingly, smirking as he watched the baby blue eyes begin to widen drastically in shock at the feeling. He eventually put more pressure, pressing his fingers against the leg and drag them down the length of his thigh, he nearly laughed at the shiver it invoked as he stopped to circle around the knee. A pale hand suddenly swatted at his own, making him suppress the urge to laugh, glancing over to see Roxas' face beginning to turn red, suppressed rage swirling in his eyes.

He just grinned as he grabbed at the hand, twisting it around to tangle their fingers together, then suddenly, **"STOP!"**

Roxas had jumped out of his desk, glaring at Sora, the brunette just staring up at him in surprise. For a second, it looked like he was going to explode, a passionate rage burning in his eyes, his face gaining color in its paleness as it expressed his feelings, his small plump lips pulled back in almost a snarl of warning, his nose scrunched up a bit with a small dusting of pink across the bridge.

It was so real, so hot, so… Sora wanted to kiss him, right there, to hold him and make himself comfortable with the other boy in a complete embrace. He suddenly, for what felt like the first time in his life, _didn't_ want to shove him down and have his way with him, or at least that wasn't his only intention. He wanted to… _hug him_.

"Excuse me, Roxas?" Ansems interrupted.

Suddenly, the eyes cooled, the cheeks turned pale again, the mask was placed back on.

Sora didn't like that, not at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Un-beta-ed, but I said I would have this chapter out today, so I am getting it out today!_**

**_Um... Filler chapter? Maybe, sorta, I like to call it character development. Character development that will last for quite a few chapters to tell the truth. xD Anyways, I'm really busy lately, so this might be the last chapter from me for awhile, but with how crazy this schedule of mine is, it could be the exact opposite, so predict for me to be unpredictable._**

**_I hope you like this chapter though, you get to see some cute young Roxas and Sora, and interaction between the young Sora and Roxas, too! :D YAY! But yeah, anyways, enjoy, reviews make my day, and I love you all for sticking with me even though I take so long to update now._**

_**Chapter 8**_

_Standing at an entire three feet and four inches, weighing in at forty-five lbs, eight year old Roxas Casey stood in front of the ice cream shop furiously shoving as much of the ice cream in the cone into his mouth before it melted. The waves crashing on the shore roared over the now empty board walk, deserted as it was well past closing time and few shops still remained open. He looked up and down the street, large frosty eyes staring curiously and complacently at the sights around him, ignoring the slight burn of the affects the sun had on his skin from earlier that day._

_Somehow, Naminé had gotten one of the chauffeurs to agree to drive them out to the beach today, and they had woken up really early in the morning to get there, but then spent the entire day on the beach and in the ocean. A little while ago, though, she said they would have to leave soon… He never wanted to leave, he loved the beach, and it was a lot more fun here with his sister than it was back home, when she was too busy with school to play with him anymore, and their parents couldn't stay in the country long enough to even talk to him…_

_The bell on the door rang behind him, making him turn around with a bright smile, but was disappointed to not see his sister, but a brunette boy about his age. The boy looked at him curiously for a moment, then grinned back, just before an older looking black haired boy shoved out of the shop and grabbed his arm, pulling him away roughly. Roxas stared after them curiously for a moment, but forgot about it soon enough as Naminé stepped out of the shop with a warm smile._

_He grabbed her hand silently and pulled her towards the beach again, hoping to maybe squeeze in a little bit more time in the water with her, to maybe make her forget about leaving, and if not about leaving, than maybe about having to return home…_

_He never wanted to go back home, to that big empty building, it felt like a dollhouse, all the rooms meant to look nice and pleasant, but filled with fake simulations of life. To the empty dining room to eat alone, to the abandoned living room to watch TV or play SEGA by himself, to the backyard to kick the soccer ball against the wall, and his own room where he would curl up and fear the dark silently until Naminé would finally creep in to kiss him goodnight…_

_It was a dollhouse, and he wasn't one of those kids who knew how to play with one of those, so all he could do was stare at the pleasant furniture and plastic homely appearance._

_She remembered eventually though, probably never forgot, and she dragged him back to the car, despite his protests. When they got back that night, he was excited to hear that their parents had caught the first plane to come home to see them, to talk to them, but then, somehow, he still ate dinner in the dining room, alone. He was sent to his room after, being told to go straight to bed, but took a detour to his mother's office, where he knew they and his sister were, talking._

_Why didn't they want to talk to him? He had to know, were they mad at him?_

_Passing by the office though, he knew why. They were yelling at Naminé, and while he didn't understand exactly why, he understood the parts that any eight year old would understand as bad, like, "skipping school," "without permission," and "irresponsible."_

_He just turned around and went to his room. _

_That night, no one came in to kiss him goodnight._

**_I HATE MAKING DOUCHE-Y CHARACTERS! BUT I NEED AN ANTAGONIST IN ROXIE'S WORLD, SO THE PARENT'S IT SHALL BE! POOR NAMI..._**

It wasn't that he despised the idea of going to the beach, especially not the idea of spending one of the last days of summer there… What he despised was that Naminé woke him up at 3 in the morning, forced him to dress in his swimming trunks and a t-shirt, throw him in a car, miss school, and be driven all the way out to the beach just to see the one and only person he couldn't find himself to hate more…

No, seriously, what would possess his sister to do this to him? He should've thought something was up the moment she told him they were going to the beach to "appreciate" the last few days of summer. Psh, she didn't even get out of the stupid car with him. The second his butt was outside the car, a black bag barely missed him as it was thrown out onto the pavement, and then she ordered the driver to step on it, and the car sped off immediately, the door slamming shut on the leg he hadn't gotten out of time, making him wince and stumble back.

Large hands grabbed his arms, halting his body in its decent to the ground, making him sigh in relief until he remembered the only other person around at 5 am at Twilight Beach.

Sora, she told Sora to get to Twilight Beach at this time… Just, why? How even? She didn't go to their school, she didn't talk to any of his friends, did she have Sora's number or something? But Sora didn't have a cell phone, then again, he supposed passing a message the old fashion way works just as well in the end, obviously it did for them, seeing as how he is here after all.

It just doesn't work out for Roxas. Too bad, right?

Anyways, he still found himself, being half supported by Sora, both watching the car holding the blonde "white witch" speed off into the sunrise, the rubber seeming to burn it's marks into the concrete as it squealed with strain… And then it was gone, and Roxas realized he was fucked. Not literally, of course, but he was stuck at Twilight Beach, a whole two hours from his home in Radiant Gardens, and he realized that Naminé had packed his bag for him in his half-asleep daze, and he was sure she wouldn't have backed anything really useful in this situation for him… like a cell phone, or wallet.

He glanced down at the black bag, lying on the concrete in its now disheveled manner, looking more than a little worse for wear in age, he couldn't help but wonder why Naminé owned something so old when she obviously could afford a new bag, a thousand new bags, and still decided to keep this one. He hoped that it was any kind of sentimental bullshit… either way, he would have to be careful with it, the last thing he would want to do is hurt his lovely sister's the feelings.

You know, the one who tricked her poor, dazed, defenseless younger brother into a car at 3 am, took him for a 2 hour drive to Twilight Beach, quite literally threw him into the arms of a stalker/creeper, and only left him a crappy looking bag with what he doubted was anything useful inside of it.

Yeah, that one.

He was gonna make sure this bag went through hell for the day, and he hoped it had some damn good sentimental value to that girl.

"Not that I mind having you in my arms…" Roxas flinched and leapt to his feet at the sound of Sora's voice in his ear, a shiver running up his spine from the proximity of the voice. He quickly stood, grabbing the bag and storming off in a random direction, not sure of what he would do in this position… No phone to call for help, no wallet to pay a taxi to get home…

"So, where are we going?"

Roxas halted, glaring over his shoulder to the brunette standing behind him, grinning much too excitedly for this early in the morning, it should be illegal or something. He just glared at him, but as usual the brunette seemed unfazed by the look, instead turning his attention to the restaurant behind the blonde, a sign of the window being turned around to "Open."

"You have breakfast already?"

The blondes eyebrow quirked, that being the only reaction he was able to give before Sora's hand suddenly wrapped around his bicep and he was being dragged towards the restaurant, more like a diner. The outside quaint in appearance, the inside reminiscent of a burger joint from the fifties, but the lighting just low enough to not make him uncomfortable. Strange, indeed, but it seemed like they had left the fluorescent lights off in exchange for the natural light of the sunrise leaking in.

A bouncy blonde jumped up to them, looking like she lived where she belonged, complete with the beach blonde hair, tanned skin, braided hair with beads, she looked like she was born to live on the beach. Roxas didn't pay much attention to her though, his curiosity suddenly turning to Sora's suggestion for breakfast, wondering how they were going to pay for such a thing when Roxas didn't even have his wallet on him, he didn't even have 5 cents on him.

Taking a seat in a booth near the window that Sora chose, he had accepted the menu quickly and looked down for the prices, wincing as he saw them. This was definitely one of those restaurants being run on the vacation money of tourists, they were ridiculously priced on even toast. He looked up to Sora with a raised eyebrow and sighed, "How do you plan to pay for this? Naminé left me without a wallet, so I can't even order."

Sora's eyebrows jumped up, "Oh, it's cool, I'll pay."

Roxas couldn't help but remember the apartment Sora, his uncle, and his cousin were living in, the condition of Vanitas' car, the little Sora could really afford, you would understand his doubts. But Sora just ignored his surprise, looking back to the menu before the waitress came over, "Um, I'll have the happy face pancakes, k?"

She giggled, her name tag flashing and catching Roxas' attention, her name is Rikku.

Sore grinned at her slyly, then shook his head, "But seriously, I'll just have some blueberry pancakes, with hash browns and bacon? How 'bout you, Roxie?"

Roxas frowned at him stubbornly, "You're not paying for me."

"Sure I am. Do you like French Toast? You look like a person who would, doesn't he, Rikku?"

She nodded quickly, "He looks fancy, totally a French Toast person."

"With some eggs… sunny side, I think. Can you make a happy face out of those, with a piece of bacon for a smile?" He grinned giddily as she nodded, writing it down before spinning around and running off, leaving Roxas to glower at him angrily, "How does a person _look_ like they're a French Toast person?"

"Are you French?"

"Yeah.."

"Well…"

"That has nothing to do with me liking French Toast!"

Sora chuckled at him, making him frown as he turned away, his eyes resting on the bag beside him. The one across from him seemed to notice his stare, looking over to raise an eyebrow at the bag, "What'd you pack? I mean, I already know you left behind your wallet, probably your phone too, or else you would have called for someone to pick you up by now."

Roxas shrugged that off, not willing to admit that he was completely correct in his assumption, grabbing the bag and pulling it up onto the table. It is an old black messenger bag, white squares in a checkered pattern on the front looking a little dirty, the edges of the material fraying a bit. He wrinkled his nose at it, then flipped it open, reaching in to grab the first thing.

"Sunscreen."

Sora snorted at that, throwing his arms out to be compared with Roxas', "Well, I don't need it, but I can see why she wouldn't want your soft, silky white skin to be burnt up."

"Sun-kissed skin cancer, or healthy milk-white skin, your choice."

Sora smirked at him suddenly, taking the bottle from Roxas' hand slowly, "You think my skin is, 'sun-kissed?'"

Roxas rolled his eyes at him, "Yeah, and I think you have skin cancer, too, but don't worry, you can just pick and chose which parts of the conversation to listen to."

"I choose the 'yeah' part. So, about this sun-kissed skin of mine-"

"Your sun-kissed skin is about to turn black and blue if you don't shut up!" Roxas finally snapped at him, snapping his head to the side, trying to ignore the other teen with him. Sora isn't the type to be easily forgotten though; he just smiled at that.

Roxas sighed, scowling as he tapped his finger against the table, maybe, when Sora tips the waitress, he can just grab a couple quarters or something from it when he isn't looking, then go find a payphone, call Hayner, get him to drive… Shit, he couldn't remember Hayner's number! This is one of the problems with cell phones nowadays, when you need a number, you rarely remember anymore than a couple digits in random spots, everyone is so used to looking up a name in the contacts list!

Oooookay, so strike that plan, he's screwed, completely screwed.

"Helllloooooo, earth to Roxas, time to land."

The blonde looked over to Sora in surprise, snapping out of his thoughts just to glare at that taunting grin, "What?"

"Well, what else is in the bag?" Sora laughed, grabbing the bag from the other's grasp to tug it to his side. Looking inside it like an excited child being given a gift, he began pulling things out and dropping them on the table. A small plastic shovel and pale, a couple towels, and underneath the towels… Sora froze, feeling a light blush cross his cheeks as he just stared at the remaining contents, then looked up to Roxas and blinked.

Roxas just looked back at him, eyebrow raised in surprise, confusing Sora to no end, "So, should I take this as you were secretly planning this, or that someone else put this in the bag?"

Roxas' eyebrows scrunched together immediately as he ripped the bags out of his hands, bringing it to him to throw it open and look inside, "What the hell are you tal-Oh dear GOD."

Roxas' face turned nearly completely red, snatching the towels from the table and stuffing them back in the bag to hide the items Naminé had deemed necessary for the trip for some reason, then just threw the rest of it back on top again, just for good measure. He shuddered at the thought of what Naminé thought Sora and Roxas would need lube and condoms for, it couldn't be that she thought they were seriously…

Oh, shit, she did, didn't she? She really thinks they're a… a _thing_.

He shivered again, looking up to glance at the smile Sora still had directed to him, feeling his face just heat up even further, and so looking back down to the bag, "Um, Naminé packed this bag… and everything…"

Sora snickered, "I kind of figured, but, you know, we could always put it to good use…" Roxas was red, beat red, but he still managed to glare at Sora harshly enough to make the brunette wince mentally, "Or not, we could just leave it there, forget about it…"

Suddenly, Rikku interrupted them, plates balanced in her arms as she set them on the table, one directly in front of Roxas had, like Sora had asked, two eggs sunny-side with a couple strips of bacon for a mouth to make a smiley face. He didn't know whether to find the absurdity that he was actually going to eat a meal shaped into a happy face for him funny, or too ridiculous for notation, but obviously, he has noted it here, so it must be the other. Either way, he was hungry, and the first thing he ate was the right eye.

Sora grinned at him, moving to eat his own breakfast silently, contemplating the night before that lead to this. After all, it wasn't like Naminé just sprung all of this that morning, she must have been planning it since she met Sora or something. He still wasn't completely sure how she found his real address, what with his fake last name, the fact he wasn't listed living _anywhere_ technically, and never having told her anything about himself like that, but he thought it would probably be safer to just not ask.

He was probably right in that assumption, too.

He had found the envelope of money on his dresser, luckily before Vanitas spotted it, and got a call from her about ten minutes after that, her telling him to be at the beach to meet Roxas in the morning. Obviously, he wasn't going to question this, as it was free money and a chance to spend more time with Roxas, he would have to be an idiot to turn down this offer.

Finding himself in this position now, though, he has to admit… Maybe he should have done more planning… He had no idea what to do now…

Briefly, a flash from his first and last time at this beach flashed in his mind, making him bite his lip and look down, shaking the memory away. Spending the time at the beach with Vanitas really had been great, but it was never a fair trade for what had happened afterwards.

He couldn't think of this now, though, "You want to go to the arcade next?"

Roxas stared at him, eyes narrowed, then shrugged and chewed on a piece of bacon absent-mindedly, "Whatever," he had no real choice, to tell the truth, as he had no way of getting home and Sora was the only person her knew here, and he had money too, apparently.

He glanced over and scowled as he saw the brunette devour his own breakfast, wrinkling his nose at the obvious lack of etiquette, "Do you think you could at least no splatter the remains of your food over the table, it's rather disgusting."

Sora stopped and raised an eyebrow at the blonde, "Are you telling me how to eat… _here?_"

Roxas pouted a bit at the way Sora said that, blushing a bit as he just looked back down to his own food, "I'm not telling you how to eat at all, I'm just saying that you don't have to eat like you are a starving pig is all…"

He snorted, and pointed his fork around the small diner, "Roxie, take a look around you, this isn't some debutante dinner that you have to use your manners for, feel free to let loose a little and rest your elbows on the table while you eat, it's no big deal here."

Roxas scowled, eyebrows furrowing together in a cute way that made Sora resist the urge to coo at him, "A debutante is a girl, and it's not like I'm being strict with manners or anything…"

"Okay, okay," Roxas stopped eating as he raised an eyebrow at the brunette's raised hands, "Alright, Rox, how about this. Stop sitting so straight, because you look like a prick to the rest of us commoners and a little slouching can't be that bad for you, and since this place doesn't have salad forks for you to go wild and use on real food, how about you just rest your elbows on the table."

His grin was mocking, it teased him and the way he was brought up, and while normally he was sure that he would fire back with the fact that he was much more civilized than someone like Sora, he couldn't really find the nerve to do that here. The difference: normally he was in school with others who were raised just like him, salad forks and all, but here it was just him and Sora… and Sora had this thing about him, this overpowering personality, and while it greatly reminded him of the "above the influence" commercials he would always see and snort at when watching TV at home, he still felt his body moving into a small slouch and his elbows moving up to the table before he really had a chance to properly think about that.

Sora's bright grin stretched across his face fully, shining in the dim morning light leaking in through the blinds on the window beside him. It would be at this moment, with the memory of the sunrise's light casting a glare over Sora's smiling face, that Roxas would realize he was completely, totally, under the influence of this boy, and helpless to rise above it.

Now that was some scary shit right there.

**_AWW, IS ROXIE STARTING TO REALIZE THAT HE MIGHT LIKE SORA MORE THAN HE KNOWS? PROBABLY NOT, LOTS OF CHAPTERS LEFT!_**

_Sora, at eight years old, loved his cousin Vanitas very much. Why? Well, duh, because he was older, and he was cooler, and even though he liked to kiss boys and that was a little weird, he was really cool because he could make a basket on a real basketball hoop with a real basketball and everything._

_So, obviously, when Vanitas called Uncle Auron's house and invited Sora out to the beach with him, he didn't think twice about a twelve year old inviting him out to the beach, without any parental guidance, but Vanitas was living with his mom at the time, and twelve year olds were practically teenagers! You know, they're practically adults already!_

_Vanitas picked him up real early that morning, they went down to the beach and spent all day there, and it was the best day ever… until that afternoon. It was getting late, and even though Sora knew that this would usually mean them having to go home soon, he was more than happy to stick around as long as he would be able to._

_Standing in the ice cream shop, he licked the ice cream cone happily, grinning to himself contentedly as he looked around the shop. Vanitas stood by the pay phone in the corner, talking quietly into the receiver, or more like hissing into it, but Sora paid no mind to it, instead looking out the large window, walking around the tables as he pushed the door open and stepped out into the hot salty air._

_A blonde boy immediately spun around with a dazzling smile, only for it to drop immediately afterwards, making Sora stare at him in confusion for a second, his eyes becoming locked onto those frostbitten ones in front of him. Unconsciously, he felt his lips tug up into a bright smile in return to the blonde, but just as he was about to say something, to make the other boy speak back to him and hear the voice that would go with those eyes._

_Then he felt his body jerk to the side, the rest of him being dragged along as he was left staring after the blonde, the other boy looking after him curiously for a moment before a blonde girl stepped out of the shop much to the blonde boy's joy. It would be then, though, that Sora would realize it, that he was like Vanitas and wanted to hold that boy's hand, and maybe even __hug__ him._

_That's serious cootie territory there._

_Then he realized Vanitas was the one dragging him away, and before he knew it, they were on a train on the way back home. When Vanitas finally dragged him back into Auron's home, he just got lectured for awhile until, finally, the phone rang and he was interrupted, then the neighbor kid, Axel, was called over to babysit him for Auron to run out._

_Sora didn't think much of it at the time, Axel made him dinner, played a cheap video game on the redhead's new Gameboy and then was sent to bed. The next morning, all he really remembers is coming downstairs to see Vanitas staring at a bowl of cereal, bandages all over his arms and face and legs, and his uncle Auron telling him to leave him alone._

_He wasn't sure what had happened, but Vanitas suddenly didn't look like he was so much bigger than him now, he didn't seem like he was so much older, and even though it was kind of scary to see someone he had always known as the bigger, smarter, guy around suddenly seem so small and weak… He sat at the table with Vanitas._

_They didn't talk, they just sat there and stared at Vanitas' bowl of cereal._

_It was a mutual understanding passing between the two, and mutual acceptance of the hurt._


	9. Chapter 9

**_I've been having some trouble writing lately, so don't laugh at me if you think this chapter sucks... I know it does. -_-' But, no really, not my favorite chapter to write, I didn't like this chapter much at all, I was actually really looking forward to Chapter 10, which is also written, but I just have to read it over before posting._**

**_So, since I'm having some more trouble writing recently, I've decided that maybe it would help if I tried to finish a couple stories, you know? I do have three going at once right now, and two of them are running parallel with one another. So, I've decided that I'll put all my focus into finishing Honestly for now, and then decide on trying to finish either Technicolor of Monsters after that. After that, or by that time, I really want to have the next part of Contract (the oneshot I wrote for OmniaVanitas (LOVE YA KANON!)) done... Can SOMEONE hold me to my word this time? -_-' Seriously, just bitch at me if I start to drift from this plan!_**

**_Anyways, yeah, I'll probably have the next chapter to this out in a little while, so thanks to everyone who is still keeping up with this despite how long I'm taking to update! I love all of you... and your reviews... but it's not just about the reviews, I SWEAR. (Now repeat that while replacing the word "reviews" with "sex.")_**

_**Chapter 9**_

This day would definitely be something for Roxas to remember, Sora would make sure of that. The brunette had decided the moment after Roxas half-heartedly agreed to go to the arcade with him, that he would turn the entire day around for the blonde. That by the end of the day, Roxas would be ecstatic that he spent the day with Sora.

Yes, _ecstatic_, not just happy, because the difference between _happy _and _ecstatic_ **could** be the chance of getting a prissy rich blonde brat crawling into bed with him.

Okay, so he was getting kind of frustrated, so sue him! He has needs too!

… Anyways, after they finished breakfast, Sora immediately grabbed Roxas' hand before the other boy would have the chance to protect himself from the attack-or at least, that's how Roxas viewed being forced to hold his hand to be like-and led him to the part of the boardwalk with all the games. It wasn't really an arcade per say, but there was an arcade deeper into the game area, so people really just viewed the entire section as one giant arcade.

Now that it was a much more decent time of day, the area was a lot more populated, with older couples walking past stores to window shop, and parents walking their children to the beach to play in the waves in the early morning. Sora figured there wasn't really anyone their age out yet because the people their age most likely spent all night drinking at a bonfire on the beach, he heard from some of the guys at school that those were the best part about the beach.

Of course, that just sparked the most brilliant idea for Sora. Now that he HAD the money, and Roxas who was more or less chained to his side because he had nowhere else to go, he could actually go to one of those parties! The question was how to convince Roxas to go too, or else the entire idea would be a bust. Sure, it would still be fun, but it wouldn't be as awesome as being there with Roxas, too.

"Hey, tonight, you want to go to one of the bonfires?"

Roxas scowled, making Sora pout at him, but he held his ground, looking down his nose at the brunette. Sora scowled this time, sighing as he turned away, but he wasn't able to hold his sulking for long as he spotted the arcade in front of him, beginning to run towards it as he dragged Roxas behind him. He halted though as he passed by a small rifle game, the targets flashing welcomingly to him as he zero-ed in on it.

Roxas rolled his eyes as they stopped in front of the game, looking around before his eyes finally landed on the prizes, taking a look at them with disinterest until he spotted one of the top prizes. Most of the top prizes were giant stuffed animals, but this one was small, and in a velvet lined jewelry box, it looked quite expensive for an arcade game prize, too.

"Hey," he called out to the guy eyeing Sora's eager gaze, waiting to accept his money in exchange for a most likely an impossible to win game, but he more than willingly switched his money-grubbing gaze to Roxas, sauntering over as he pulled out the money box, but Roxas ignored that, "What's that top prize, the one in the jewelry box?"

The man looked confused for a minute, then looked up and grabbed a step ladder, reaching up to grab the box, "Oh, this! It was my ex-wife's grandmother's earrings, but when the bitch sold my Cadillac, I had to take something from her to compensate, you know what I mean?"

Roxas raised his eyebrow at that, but shrugged it off, the man continued on needlessly anyways, "I could make it a top prize if you want though, boy. How about a score of 1500? 500 points for each correct shot?"

Roxas shrugged again, "Whatever, I'm not really-"

"I'll play for it!" Sora pitched in, the man eagerly nodding to him as he loaded a fake rifle with three small plastic balls. Were those pellet balls, and that a pellet gun? Roxas wasn't too knowledgeable on guns, but he supposed it wouldn't matter, the game was probably rigged anyways. Why would Sora want those earrings though? They were not only stolen, but they were some dead grandmother's old earrings. Plus, Roxas hadn't even gotten a look at them, but they could be ugly as shit, maybe that's why the man kept the box shut in the first place!

Sora slapped a five on the counter, lifting the gun up to his shoulder with practiced ease, making Roxas stare at him curiously. Did Sora have experience with a gun? Probably not, he was probably just acting to look cool or something. But then the game started and the targets started to move and flash and make noise, and Sora took an entire minute before his first shot, hitting a tin bird that was flying in circles, surprising Roxas at the accuracy. The alarm went off, alerting them that the target had, indeed, been struck, and it was another full minute before Sora would make another shot. This time, the alarm sounded as he hit a small tin rat that had been crawling along the floor almost completely out of view.

Roxas glanced over to the jewelry box sitting between him and Sora, beginning to wonder if Sora would actually win it with this sudden display of shooting capability. Sora wasn't just showing off, he had actual skill in this. He looked up as another shot was heard, his eyes darting over to see an obvious dent in the tin man on a boat, but no alarm sounding. Obviously Sora had gotten the shot, but as Roxas had predicted, the game was fixed.

"Aww, well, it was close boy, but it looks like-"

Roxas' jaw dropped in shock as the tin man and boat were suddenly taken out by a fake rifle, the alarm going off as Sora cheered for himself.

Oh. He. Did. Not.

"You said I had to get three shots, not that I was limited to three, and throwing the gun is totally making a shot! So I win! Thanks buddy, being seeing ya!" Sora snatched the jewelry box and lopped his arm around Roxas' elbow as he dragged the blonde after him down the boardwalk again, the man attempting to run after them as he struggled over the counter, ultimately too old and slow to even stand a chance.

Roxas panted heavily as Sora finally slowed down, the guy from before way behind them now, and he just continued to stare at the brunette grinning beside him, still in shock from just what Sora did back there. Was he insane? "**Are** you insane?"

Sora raised an eyebrow at him, his grin falling off his face, "What do you mean? He was totally cheating—I just evened the playing a bit by having an extra shot. Besides, he stole it from his ex-wife; he doesn't deserve to have it."

"Still… what are you even going to do with those, anyways? Your ears aren't pierced!"

Sora tilted his head as he suddenly realized the pointlessness of the earrings, then opened the box as his eyes lit up looking at them. They were studs, two small sky blue jewels, that didn't look all that special considering, but then he looked closer and could see something carved into the stainless steel that the jewel was embedded into. The steel encased the jewel, around the edge were roman numerals starting at "I" and ending at "XII," and then, in the middle and visible through the sky blue jewel, he could see "XIII."

Sora paused a second, then grinned at Roxas, holding them up as if comparing how they would look on him, making Roxas roll his eyes, "My ears aren't pierced either, dumbass."

Sora just grinned and grabbed Roxas' hand, dragging him off the boardwalk and down a couple streets before they stopped, Roxas' horror being realized as Sora began to tug him into a tattoo and piercing parlor, "Hey, whoa, what do you think you're doing?"

Sora looked back at him and smiled, "Let's get our ears pierced!"

"WHAT?"

_**I LOVE PIERCINGS, REALLY LOVE THEM, MY BOYS ARE GONNA GET ALL PIERCED UP! GO SORA! PIERCE ROXIE (MEANT TO SOUND DIRTY)!**_

Roxas wasn't sure how it happened, but he found himself sitting in a leather chair with a man who looked like nothing less than an escaped convict leaning over him with a small blue marker in his hand, making dots on Roxas' ear lobes. Roxas stayed still just out of sheer fear, fear that this man would get pissed about him fidgeting, and then stab him in the eye with the marker or something. Two dots were made, and the mirror was held before Roxas, and while he agreed that in a feminine sort of way, he would look good with his ears pierced, he was still quite against the idea of it.

Because proper men didn't have their ears pierced, men who run giant corporate businesses didn't pierce their ears for other boys who only want to get into their pants. It wasn't a good idea at all to go through with this, but somehow, in a blur of whining and pouting, Sora had managed to convince him to sit in the chair and let this absolutely terrifying man make dots on his ears with a marker.

Then the man turned around with the piercing gun, and Roxas swore he blacked out from terror. However, when he finally came to, it was to Sora standing beside him with a concerned look on his face, "Roxie, you alright? You fainted, are you feeling okay?"

Roxas blinked dumbly at him, then nodded slowly, looking around to see the maybe-ex-convict behind the counter again, putting some money in the register, "What happened?"

Sora grinned and reached for a mirror beside the chair, holding it up in front of the blonde, making Roxas' face pale slightly at the sight of the earrings in his ears. The studs Sora won were shining dimly in the light from the front of the shop, and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach as he realized just how good he looked in them, and how good it felt to be wearing them for some reason.

It wasn't because Sora won them for him or anything, that would be too cliché, real life didn't work like that, so it couldn't be that he liked them because Sora won them for him.

… He was turning into such a pussy, wasn't he?

"It's my turn! I'm getting my lobes pierced twice, and I think I might get a lip piercing too!"

"WHAT?"

Sora started cracking up next to him, reaching over to ruffle his hair, "Joking, I'm just getting the ear piercings, maybe I'll get the lip some other day, k?"

Roxas just stared at him for a few more moments, making Sora stare back at him awkwardly, "Are you still in shock from your ears, or are you just deciding whether to punch me or not."

"Oh, no, I'm going to punch you, I'm just not sure where. I kinda want to kick you in the balls, too…"

They jumped as they heard a snort from the counter, the maybe-ex-convict staring at them in amusement, "You two are real cute, now you gonna pick out the studs or give me some more to use?"

Sora's eyes seemed to light up at this, tugging Roxas out of the chair to go over to the case with all the studs in them, looking over them eagerly, one pair in particular finally caught his eye. Looking like plugs but they were actually studs with circles at the end, a funny heart design on the circles, the heart extended out at the bottom and had an 'x' in them that looked like it was covered in thorns, Sora immediately pointed them out.

"That's a heartless symbol," The possibly-escaped-convict smirked, catching Roxas' attention as well, "They used to be a gang awhile back, everybody thought they were really in with the mafia too. Don't matter though, the leader still ended up shot up and thrown in a dumpster anyways."

Sora nodded and grinned, "Xehanort was his name, right?" The man looked surprised, then nodded and placed them to the side as Sora turned his attention back to the blonde beside him, "Hey, Rox, help me choose which earrings! Make sure they'll look good on me!"

He flashed a grin at the blonde, making Roxas gulp nervously as he slowly reached up to touch his tender ear lobes and look down at the studs, half his brain still wondering why Sora would want earrings with an old dead gang symbol on them, but then his eyes caught on a bar in the case beside the studs. Looking over at it, his eyes widened as he saw the black bar sitting in with one of the case's lights shining down on it. The bar itself was black, but painted around it were subtle gray thorny vines like a design, and the ends of the bar had white spikes. It looked nothing short of absolutely badass, to be honest.

"Those are industrial bars, right? How much?" Roxas jumped as Sora's voice broke his thoughts, the brunette leaned against him to also take a look at the bar, Roxas remaining silent as he fought his face's rising heat. The piercer nodded at them and pulled the bar out to show them, "Normally, they're a lot more, but I'm taking a liking to you kids, so how about I charge you the same for a lobe piercing?"

Sora's face brightened immediately, "Seriously? Dude, you're awesome, let's do this!"

Roxas' face paled as he looked at the bar and then glanced at Sora… What the fuck was an industrial bar? What was this guy going to do to Sora's fucking ear?

Time seemed to kick into high gear as the man began cleaning the industrial bar first, Sora dragging Roxas back over to the chair, but this time Sora was jumping in. Sora looked down at Roxas' nervous expression and smiled at him, "Aw, don't worry Roxie, it won't be that bad, you won't even feel a thing!"

Roxas glared at him, "I'm not the one getting the piercing dumbass."

"So why are you so nervous, huh?" Sora smirked back at him, making Roxas turn slightly pink. Sora changed his tone to be much sweeter, "Aw, you're all worried about me!"

"No, I'm not, shut up."

"You wanna go down to the beach after this?"

Roxas looked over to the brunette in surprise, just then suddenly remembering they were, in fact, at the beach right now. He took a distracted glance over to his ratty looking bag by the register, where he had dropped it when they first came in, and nodded slowly. Might as well, right? They were at the beach after all, he wouldn't want to waste a perfectly good beach day just because he was stuck with a dumbass the entire time.

"Alright, kid, this is gonna hurt."

Roxas paled as he watched the man sit beside Sora, lining a hollow needle up with the first marker-made dot on his ear, but Sora just laughed a bit, "Thanks for the brutal honesty, man, it's appreciated."

"No problem, now try not to cry or anything, it'll be embarrassing with your boyfriend here," He winked at Roxas, making the blonde's face turn red as the piercing began. He looked down to Sora's expression to just see a completely blank face. His sapphire blue eyes seemed to be locked to the ceiling, unmoving and not showing a thing as the man worked on his ear. Roxas gulped, not used to seeing Sora so… devoid of emotion, and wondering if it really hurt, or if it didn't hurt at all. He eventually decided it must hurt like a bitch, or else Sora would be whining about it, he must be in shock or something.

Finally, the man picked up the industrial bar, and went in close to his ear again, making Roxas curious enough to actually look over this time. He regretted the decision though as he winced watching the man push the bar through the opposite ends of the cartilage at the top of Sora's ear, connecting the front part of the ear to the back part (just google a freaking industrial piercing).

The ends were screwed on, and the three just sat in silence waiting for Sora's reaction, but when nothing came, Roxas found himself becoming impatient, "Well?"

Sora blinked in surprise, "What?"

Roxas glared at him, "Did it hurt or not?"

Sora shrugged, "Eh."

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Fuck you."

"Is that an invitation? Either way, I accept."

"Fuck off."

"Do I get to do it on you?"

"Just go DIE!"

_**INDUSTRIAL PIERCINGS ARE NOT "EH." I HAVE ONE AND IT HURT, BUT I ALSO THINK IT WAS WORTH EVERY BIT OF PAIN, I LOVE IT!**_

Roxas found the only thing he could look at was Sora's ears, watching the light glint off the new piercings in his lobes and the industrial, and the only thing he could feel was the barely noticeable sting of the steel in his own ears, the reminder that the earrings Sora won were in his ears…

He'd be honest, he thought about taking them out when he got home, but decided to leave them in. He wasn't quite sure why at the moment, but he was sure he would figure out a perfectly logical and rational explanation eventually. Until then, he would just do what his gut told him and leave them in, he kind of liked how they felt.

He was nearly positive that he would regret this entire day when they got back though, he was sure he would look back on this day as nothing but a giant mistake. It was dumb, really, letting himself get convinced into getting this piercing, and then even deciding to keep it was worse. The sound of a paper bag rustling caught his attention as he looked over to see Sora digging through the McDonalds bag that held their dinner, of course it had been eaten so now it was full of their trash, so the brunette crumpled it up and got up to throw it away in a barrel.

Roxas looked down at the messenger bag in front of him, just then realizing they hadn't used any of the stuff that Naminé packed, especially the stuff that was hidden at the very bottom of the bag. The air between the two teens was sort of tense, making Roxas shift uncomfortably as Sora sat beside him again, he wasn't sure why things had turned this way though. It was just, after they stepped out of the shop, Sora began playing with those studs of his and suddenly turned all quiet.

"Why'd you get those?"

Roxas nearly looked around to see who said that, but then he realized that he was the one who said it, making him tense as Sora looked at him curiously, "Uh, the piercings?"

He debated dropping the subject, but brushed the idea off. He wanted to know, so he was going to find out, "No, why the studs, and how did you learn to use a gun like that?"

Sora just stared at him for a second, making Roxas grow uneasy, almost guilty, even though there was no real reason for him to feel that way. Why did he feel so tense? But Sora eventually looked away, turning his eyes to stare blankly out at the ocean, "Well… Before my dad went to become a soldier, he had been in that Heartless gang that the guy had been talking about. That's where he met my mom, actually, or at least, that's what I was told."

Roxas blinked in surprise, feeling like his heart sucked in his breath suddenly and then decided to drop out his ass. He wasn't expecting serious from Sora, this guy wasn't meant to be serious, especially not the serious that involved pain.

Sora grinned at him, but it was so obviously forced that it just made Roxas feel worse, "It's nothing to worry about."

Roxas wasn't sure where it came from, he had nearly forgotten about it, but suddenly he remembered the name Vanitas had mentioned to him, and he needed to know, "Who's Zack Fair?"

Sora blinked in surprise, his jaw going slightly slack in his shock, "How… Where did you hear about him?"

He almost seemed angry, making Roxas gulp and back off, scowling as he turned away, "Whatever, do you know how we are gonna get home or what?"

Sora was quiet, still staring at him, Roxas couldn't see him staring at him, but damn he could feel his eyes burning into his sides, "Uh… no. Maybe Naminé will come pick us up? I don't know… I can get some change and try to use a payphone, or… AXEL!"

Roxas nearly shit his pants when Sora suddenly shouted Axel's name, looking at the brunette with rage and annoyance clearly painted on his expression, but that turned around as he saw the teen was standing and waving over to a familiar lanky redhead up on the boardwalk. The redhead most likely didn't see them as he continued to walk, making Roxas also jump up as he grabbed his bag, "C'mon, we gotta catch up with him before he leaves!"

They darted out to the street, nearly getting run over as they darted around traffic to reach the opposite sidewalk, sprinting down it to catch up to the redhead walking along without a clue. Finally pushing past a group of preteens, Sora launched himself at the redhead's back and tackled the older man, making Axel swear in surprise and turn around to see the brunette, "Well, if it ain't the Brownie Scout! What're you doing down here?"

Roxas panted heavily from running as he stopped behind them, Axel looking over at him in confusion before looking back to Sora, the brunette grinning at him, "Oh, you know, Roxie and I are just hanging out-"

"He kidnapped me," Roxas interrupted smoothly.

"It is one of the last days of summer, so his sister thought it would be a good idea for us to spend it at the beach, and she drove us down here-"

"It was against my will, it was kidnapping."

"And she gave me some money so that we could eat and have fun and everything-"

"But no cell phone for me to CALL FOR HELP."

"And we played a game at the arcade and won some earrings, which I brought Roxie to this piercing place where they pierced the earrings in his ears for him-"

"Also against my will!"

"And anyways, I can tell you more about it some other time, but can you bring us home?"

"Because Naminé didn't leave that cell phone I mentioned for us to call her for a ride home, so now we're stuck here until she decides to get us."

Axel looked between the two with a grin on his face, "You two are so cute! Those piercings are fucking sick, Brownie, you get those today?"

Sora grinned at him as the three started walking down the side walk again, "Yeah! The guy who did Roxie's ears gave me a discount for the industrial! It was awesome!"

"He looked like an escaped convict," Roxas muttered, but just sighed in the end.

It didn't really matter anymore, it was done and over with, and now he just gets to go home and try to salvage his normal life again. That is, after he finishes flipping out on Naminé, and using google for a little name search.

He glanced over at Sora, wondering again just who Zack Fair was…


	10. Chapter 10

**_First things first, I want to say that I have donated blood before, and it wasn't a bad experience at all (and I have a fear of needles!)... Roxas is just a pussy, remember?_**

**_Anyways, I liked the way this chapter turned out a lot more, I think I fit more into it along the lines of story development, with Roxas trying to figure out Sora's past, and Roxas talking to his actual friends again (I can't help but feel like I'm neglecting them T-T), and then the end where Roxas actual does something for Sora for, like, the first time, showing that he does care about the guy. I just feel like this is a turning point in the entire story somehow, you know? There's a lot of set-up for future chapters here, so pay attention!_**

**_Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys think about this, please review, I love them, and I love you guys, so I hope you like this chapter!_**

_**Chapter 10**_

Sora's father is Zack Fair.

Vanitas said so.

Sitting in the stiff wooden seat, Roxas nibbled his lip lightly as he remembered Vanitas saying something about Sora being "Zack's kid," that time when he had to sleep at Sora's apartment.

The library around him was silent for the most part, a few other kids staying after that day to study for whatever reason. Normally, he wouldn't stay after for any other reason than tennis or a Student Council meeting, but he had a different purpose of staying after school today. Roxas yawned as he looked down at the laptop in front of him, Google open to a web search of "Zack Fair," but nothing turned up, not even an obituary or anything. He couldn't exactly remember everything that Vanitas had said at that time, just that Zack is Sora's father, but by the way that Vanitas had talked, it sounded like this guy was someone important, so it didn't make sense that there was nothing on the internet on him.

After all, even Roxas could Google his own name and find a couple articles about something he did at school, or for a club, or his Facebook page. It didn't make any sense that this guy was supposed to be significant, but unheard of. Thinking further about this though, he remembered Sora's reaction to the name. He had almost seemed angry that Roxas knew of Zack Fair.

Not only that, but Sora had said that his father was in a gang before becoming a soldier, making it even more suspicious that there is absolutely nothing turning up on this guy on the internet. He got a feeling that there is a completely darker level to all this.

Chewing his lip nervously, he took another glance around him at the quiet library, as if suspecting someone to be watching him over his shoulder, the precise reason for not doing this at home, because he was afraid Naminé would try reading over his shoulder. Being reassured that there was no one else around though, he sighed and filled in the Google search bar with a new name, "Sora Fair."

Sora's real last name, because he knew that Sora's last name isn't really Evans, not if his father's real name is Fair, it wouldn't make since. Unless he took on his uncles last name for some reason, but he didn't even know if Auron's last name was Evans or not.

Surprisingly enough, this one did turn up results. The first was a newspaper article, Roxas clicking on it before he even read the headline, eyes eagerly running over it as the page loaded. He gulped dryly at what it said though.

"**CHILD ARRESTED FOR GANG ACTIVITY"**

_Sora Fair, 10, was arrested today in Hollow Bastion, for resisting police when he was asked to come in for questioning on his father, name unknown, for recent activity on the gang known as the __**Heartless.**_

Roxas didn't need to read anymore, clicking the back button until he was back at the plain Google page, "Sora Fair" still sitting in the search bar. He leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply at the little he had just read.

Sora was 10 years-old, wasn't his dad already a soldier by that point? He didn't know, but according to this article, there was something about the Heartless gang that caused police to think that Zack was still involved with them, and most likely had done something big to have caused the police to arrest his son for resisting their questioning.

"Sora Fair?"

Roxas nearly screamed as he jumped and slammed his laptop shut, spinning around to look at Hayner, Pence, and Olette standing behind them. Hayner looked pissed for some reason, Pence curious, and Olette just looked concerned in general, he forced a grin at them, "O-Oh, hey guys, um, what are you doing here?"

Hayner just scowled at him again, "What's going on with you, man?"

"What do you mean?" Roxas retorted, frowning as Hayner walked around him to take a seat at the table.

"You've been gone lately, man, you disappeared that one weekend, call me out of the blue to borrow my uniform, bought an entire new set of uniforms for yourself, missed a couple Student Council meetings already, then you skipped that day of school last week, and came back with those gay earrings-"

"Shut the fuck up, Hay, they aren't gay!" Roxas snapped back at him, making the other teen turn red with anger, "Nothing's changed, alright?"

Hayner scowled and turned away, Pence and Olette walking around to also take a seat at the table, Olette speaking a lot more gentler than Hayner did, "Well, we're just a little… concerned for you, Roxas. We heard… that you were hanging out with Sora recently, and with you disappearing so often and without explanation, we had no reason to _not_ believe it. We just wanted to be sure you're not falling in with a bad crowd, alright?"

Roxas scowled, "Where'd you hear that from?"

She shifted uncomfortably for a second, and with Hayner still sulking about being snapped at, Pence took up the conversation this turn, "We had been looking for you that day that you skipped, and Kairi came up with Riku to tell us Sora was missing too, because she heard that we were looking for Roxas, and then Riku said that you and Sora were probably hanging out somewhere. Then you both came back with those new piercings, and Sora has been talking about you a lot more-"

"What is he saying about me?" Roxas jumped in before thinking, then turning slightly red as he crossed his arms and turned away, "I mean, he isn't saying anything bad, right? I need to make sure that people don't get the wrong idea about me."

Hayner snorted, "The very fact that _Sora_ of all people would say good things about you _would_ give a person a bad idea."

Roxas scowled at him, glaring slightly, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm just saying Rox," Hayner sneered, an eyebrow raising in Roxas' direction from the blonde's anger about this, "Sora isn't exactly a good kid. I have no idea how he ever got into this school, and he probably copies somebody else's work to keep up those good grades of his. He's a punk, and a faggot too, all he's been saying about you is how much he likes your ass. So I'd watch myself if I were you."

Roxas found himself frozen for a minute, different reactions and emotions to everything that Hayner said dragging through his mind as he tried to settle on the one that would express his reaction to everything that was said. He was mad, in fact, he wouldn't lie to himself, what Hayner said really pissed him off, but at the same time, this was Hayner talking. Sure, you might think, "Who cares if it's Hayner, anybody says that about Sora deserves to EAT FOOT." But that's because you've seen the other side of Sora, and Roxas realizes that since he saw the other side of Sora and Hayner hadn't their opinions on the guy are probably universally different.

Still, no one should talk about Sora this way, whether they've seen his other side or not, but at the same time, this wasn't just anybody, this was his _best friend_. Sure, he has been a little distant from Hayner recently, and yeah, they guy skipped the "try to be supportive and understanding" step and went straight to "dude WTF do you think you're doing, we're bros you can't ditch me like this" step, but that was just how Hayner's attitude worked. And to be honest, a couple weeks ago, Roxas would've agreed with exactly what Hayner was saying about Sora.

So, yeah, what he said really, really pissed him off, but at the same time, he can't show he's pissed off at him because that wouldn't work with them, he can't _be pissed off_ at _Hayner_ because of what he said about _Sora_. Get it? It's a high school clique thing, sorta, plus the fact that Roxas likes his friends and doesn't want them to think he's "falling into a bad crowd" and abandon him to save themselves.

All four of them were quiet for the moments it took Roxas to come to this conclusion, to understand why he wasn't able to find himself to yell at Hayner in outrage at what he said, but even for a few moments after that, he still didn't know what to do about it. So he did the natural thing, agree and try to change the subject, "Ha, yeah, you're right. Um, so what are you guys staying after for?"

The other three were still tense for a second, but all seemed to agree to brush it off for now, Olette being the first to smile at him awkwardly, "Oh, uh, the blood drive is going to start soon. We're volunteering because it looks good on the activity sheets and, plus, Harvard is offering a really good scholarship opportunity for the volunteers. Of course, your grades have to be good enough for you to be considered, but if you have straight A's and volunteer, then you're practically guaranteed the scholarship, I heard."

Pence nodded quickly, seeming to welcome the subject change quickly, "Yeah, I mean, I hate the idea of having to be around all that blood and everything, but it's a good idea, isn't it? You might still be able to sign up, too, Rox! You wanted to get in an Ivy League, didn't you?"

Roxas nodded quickly, "Yeah, I've only been talking about it for the past four years to you guys, how didn't I know about this already?"

Hayner snorted, still sulking a bit, "You were getting your ears pierced, remember?" The other three went silent around him, Olette and Pence glaring at Hayner as Roxas looked away a bit guiltily, making Hayner sigh slightly, "But, yeah, so you can't donate blood, they'll probably let you volunteer if you tell them you really want to participate."

Roxas looked over to Hayner, an eyebrow raising, but the other teen wasn't looking at him, scowling off to the side. He was still angry at him, but this at least meant he was going to get over it eventually… probably. He quickly shoved his laptop in his bag and followed them down to the gym, finding one of the school nurses to sign up to volunteer. Fortunately, it seemed that the Harvard scholarship thing hadn't really been publicized as you would think, probably because students didn't spread it around in the hopes that they would limit the competition that way, and there were still positions left to be filled.

He had to be an assistant to all blood donors at table 13, unfortunately, but he would still get the scholarship, so it's all works out anyways. Especially since he's a straight A student, getting a scholarship to their school this way will definitely guarantee getting accepted, and then he would have the perfect opportunity to go to the Ivy League school like he wants to… Not that he needs the scholarship to get in, he definitely could afford the over-priced school tuition, books, dorm, and everything, and he could definitely get accepted with his grades and everything he does to impress the colleges, but it's just the reassurance of getting the guarantee like this…

Or maybe it was the fact that he could completely overkill the rest of the freshmen applying by being this amazing, but the reassurance sounded nicer.

He sighed as he looked over to the lines of people waiting to donate blood, wondering how long he would have to be here, but it would probably be late… Crap, he wasn't too good around blood. Maybe he should have given this more thought before jumping on the idea? Well, it's not like he has to look at the blood or anything, all he is really supposed to do is talk to the donor and pass the time with them, make sure they feel fine, give them juice and a small snack. So it wouldn't be too bad, right?

Jinx.

Sora showed up.

Double jinx.

He's being led over here.

Roxas watched in near horror as one of the sophomore girls volunteering started to led Sora over in his direction, the brunette chatting with her amiably, too amiably, they acted like friends! Roxas was nothing short of panicking as they were walking toward him though, looking around for Olette, Pence, Hayner, anyone to switch with him, but they were nowhere near him. Well, Hayner was, but he was already with a donor at table 15, so he couldn't switch with him. Speaking of Hayner, it seemed his friend already knew that Sora would be at his table, or at least, that's what his glare suggested.

Okay, so he would be stuck with Sora for, like, what? Ten, fifteen minutes? That wouldn't be too bad, right? He was stuck with the guy for an entire day once… and he came out of it with pierced ears and rumors about him and Sora hanging out now being spread around. Okay, just because this has _potential_ to be bad, doesn't mean it _will be_ bad.

The brunette suddenly launched himself onto the table in front of him, making him flinch and glare down at the tan teen in front of him, "OH, Nurse Roxie! Please, treat my booboo~!"

"Your 'booboo,' huh? You might need a lobotomy to fix that head of yours…" Roxas growled, "Let me get a drill for ya."

Sora seemed to pale at the mental image, but continued the teasing nonetheless, "No, no, that's not a booboo, that's my undying love for you, Roxie! I meant, _this_ booboo."

The hip thrust he performed when he said "_this_" would be something that Roxas was sure he'd have nightmares about for quite awhile. His jaw was dropped, his face pale, and the girl who lead the perverted night terror in shoes over was giggling like it was supposed to be funny. Damn her to hell.

Sora snickered a bit and turned to the girl, "Thanks, Selph, don't worry about us, we're _good_ friends."

The girl giggled a bit more, turning to walk away, "I bet you two are, Sor."

Roxas just glared down at the brunette on the table, huffing as the doctor quickly walked over to them, he didn't look up at the man until the guy muttered under his breath, "Oh, GREAT, it's you guys again."

Roxas and Sora looked over to see none other than Doctor Zexion… again. Sora gave a shit-eating grin though, "Dr. ZEXY! How've you been Zexster? Curing cancer? You know you can find the treatment to rid the earth of AIDs, Zexman!"

"For the love of all that is holy, would you shut the fuck up?" Zexion snapped at the brunette glaring down at the boy menacingly, Sora was largely unaffected though, so Zexion was left grumbling to himself as he got ready for the donation.

Just then a thought struck Roxas, "Wait a minute, you just got your ears pierced, you can't give blood."

"Hm?" Sora raised an eyebrow at the blonde, "Well, the lady said it wasn't that big of a deal, and it was a clean place…"

The doctor shrugged, "It should be fine, and an ear piercing isn't that concerning. After the donations, all of the blood is tested just to be safe anyways."

Roxas frowned a bit as Sora grinned up sassily at the blonde, "Aw, don't worry, Roxie, you still get to hold my hand while I give blood!"

Roxas stared down at him blankly, his voice going monotone, "Oh, great, I got real scared about not getting to do _that_."

Zexion snorted at them, turning to leave, "Alright, I'll be back in about 15 minutes."

"People seemed to always be amused by us, you notice that?" Sora's comment made Roxas raise his eyebrow at him.

"Nope." Roxas' eyes were caught by the sight of a blonde man with a mullet-mohawk thing tackling Zexion as he walked away, shouting something about wanting him to take his blood.

Sora pouted at him, "Hey, Roxie, don't start acting all cold again."

"I'm not cold, I'm avoiding a confrontation." He looked familiar… Wait, wasn't that the Demyx guy back from that day in the hospital? Yeah, that's Demyx, the guy always going after Zexion's ass… Poor Zexion, he could sympathize for him.

"How's that? Who'll give you a hard time just for being my buddy, huh?" Sora smirked.

Roxas scowled at him again, sighing, he could definitely empathize with having someone that annoying constantly being a thorn in your side, at least, "For one, I'm pretty sure _everybody_ knows by now that you don't want to _just _be buddies. And Hayner looks like he's having an aneurism over there because we're talking, so shut up and let your blood be drained in peace."

Sora's grin was slightly lopsided, looking strangely attractive, although Roxas would never admit that out loud to anyone ever, "Alright, but I might be a bit more willing to stay quiet if I have something in my mouth…" Roxas glared at him in disgust before Sora laughed at him, "Whoa! Where was your head, Roxie? I meant a snack!"

Roxas blushed slightly, turning to grab a bag of Oreos from the table behind him and opening it for the brunette next to him, "Thanks, I was getting kinda dizzy."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at that, "Wait, if you're getting dizzy already… are you underweight for this?"

Sora shrugged a bit, "Sorta, just, like, couple pounds under, but my blood type is kinda rare, so I lied to donate anyways."

Roxas' eyes widened, "Are you dumb? Do you realize how bad that is? You could pass-out, Sora! I'll call the doctor over to take the needle out-"

"Hey, stop freaking, man!" Sora reached out with his free hand, catching Roxas' before the blonde could run to grab the doctor, "It's fine! It's only a couple pounds, give me a few more bags of Oreo's and I'll be at the right weight—no problem."

Roxas looked down at the brunette in annoyance, then sighed and glared to the floor, "Whatever, but if you die, I'll tell them it was all because of your own idiocy, alright?"

Sora chuckled slightly at that, "Yeah sure, so why are you volunteering? Another thing for your activity sheet?"

Roxas felt the heat rising to his face as he was suddenly reminded that he was only doing this because he wanted the scholarship to Harvard, the scholarship he didn't even need. And yet Sora was laying here, underweight, but still giving blood because his blood type is rare. Well, he feels like a douche right now…

"Uh, yeah, it's pretty much for college… I'm not too good around blood, so I wouldn't be here otherwise, I just don't like it. N-Not that I'm afraid or anything, I'm just not good around it… Needles too, so, yeah, I usually avoid blood drives to make it less problematic."

_Rationalization at its finest, you just keep up that denial, Rox._ Roxas wanted to smack himself for giving himself sass, but even he had to admit that must have been the lamest excuse he's ever come up with, seriously.

"Huh, it must be hard standing here for you, pretty brave that you'd do this, then. Even if it's just for college, you're helping out the doctors a lot, and you're facing a fear of blood and needles to do it, too."

Oh, stop rubbing it in, he knows he's not the brave one, he knows that he's being a selfish fuck.

"So what college are you trying to get into?"

Roxas snapped out of his self-loathsome thoughts, blinking quickly, "Um, probably an Ivy League, I'm thinking Harvard at the moment."

Sora made a whistling sound, "Daaaaamn, Harvard? Now that's expensive! But you gotta expect that with Ivy Leagues, don't ya? You'll definitely get in, though, it'd look good on you."

"Look good _on_ him?" What was that supposed to mean? Isn't the term usually, "look good _for_ you?" Or did Sora actually mean that he would look good at Harvard? … Why did he always draw so much from simple things Sora says? The guy probably just got the saying wrong or something, whatever.

"Uh, yeah, what are you planning to do about college?"

"Hm? Well, I might not go, or maybe go to a community college instead."

Okay, so there is something you have to understand here. At a normal, public school, maybe this wouldn't be as shocking, especially in today's economy, it isn't that surprising that someone would plan to go to community college because it's cheaper. But this is a private school, and not just any private school, a private school for rich elitist types. So, the idea that someone going to this school would go to community college because of financial issues isn't usually something that is thought of very often because it doesn't really happen… ever. But Sora was, obviously, the exception to this.

"But couldn't you just get another scholarship? Or financial aid? You could probably get a lot of financial aid." Roxas asked, eyebrows furrowing together as he suddenly realized that Sora was still holding his hand, but wouldn't let go as he tried to detach them.

Sora frowned, "If I were living with Auron, yeah, I could go to college by riding on scholarships and financial aid like Vanitas, but I'm listed as living with Cid under a false last name just so that I can go to this school, so switching my address now wouldn't work because they would see Cid's income from just the year prior and think I'm tricking them to get more money."

Roxas nodded, frowning in thought, "Well, yeah, I guess you're right. The fact that Cid makes enough for you to go here already means that you wouldn't get much financial aid."

"So, you do know my last name is fake…" Roxas jumped a bit, looking down at Sora in surprise, the smirk across the brunette's face, "Well, I don't know who told you, but I guess you know since you didn't seem surprised when I just said it a second ago."

Roxas scowled and looked away, "Uh, yeah… Fair is your real name, right?"

Sora nodded slowly, "Zack Fair is my father, you asked about him back that day on the beach… Listen, no matter what you hear about him, from whoever it is, he was a good guy, alright? He had some tough times, was put in some bad positions, but he was always kind, and forgiving, and he helped anybody out. He was a good man, and a good father, too."

Roxas' eyes were slightly wide in surprise from Sora's suddenness with the insistence that his father was a good person, the other's sapphire eyes narrowing as he said this, not glaring at him but definitely making him feel uncomfortable under such an intense gaze. Fortunately, though, Zexion came over just then and interrupted the moment, forcing their gazes apart.

As Sora was being released, Roxas walking the dizzy brunette over to the resting area, he gulped nervously at what Sora had said, getting an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach about all of this. Just what kind of man was Zack Fair then? He was involved with a gang, became a soldier and left his son behind with his brother, got his son arrested for questioning about him, and has absolutely nothing on the internet on him. Not even an obituary. But Sora insists that he was a good man and father, and Vanitas seemed to think that he was an important person to fear.

He helped Sora into a seat, the brunette ripping open another bag of Oreo's that Roxas handed him before looking up at the blonde who remained in front of him, "You need something, Roxie? A kiss goodbye?"

Roxas scowled, but ignored him, "Some other time, can you tell me more about it?"

Sora blinked in confusion, "Huh? About what?"

"Um, everything, y-you know. Your father, and the Heartless, and that time where you… well, _you know_," Shit, he'd never felt so awkward in his entire life.

Slowly, Sora nodded a bit, "Yeah, sure… Tomorrow, alright? You can come over to talk about it…" Roxas nodded quickly, chewing his lip awkwardly before turning around to leave, waving as Sora said bye to him.

Walking back to the table to wait for the next donor, he looked up hesitantly to see Hayner glaring at him, making him look back down at the floor again.

Sora is a good person, too.

_**OH MY GOD IT'S A LINE! WHO GUESSED THERE WOULD BE ONE OF THESE HERE? ARE THEY AMAZING? YOU BET THEY ARE! GOTTA LOVE LINES!**_

It was almost time to leave, the line of donors trickling down until there were finally only a couple left. Making up his mind at that moment, Roxas walked over to sign himself up to donate.

It was possibly one of the worst experiences in his life, he wishes to never do it again. Bravery is bullshit, that was horrible.

Cleaning up, he stood at the resting area's table packing away the extra snacks, as he tried not to itch at the bandage that irritated his arm, a young woman with a clipboard stopped in front of him with a small smile, "Hi, I'm taking down the names of the volunteers being put up for the Harvard scholarship, could I ask for your name?"

Roxas blinked at her in surprise for a moment, haven actually forgotten about the scholarship for awhile, to tell the truth, but then smiled and nodded, "Uh, yes…"

She nodded and flipped a page over on her clipboard, clicking her pen to signal that she was ready to take down his name, but Roxas paused for a second, then sighed and grinned slowly, "Sora Evans."


	11. Chapter 11

**_Okay, I'm sorry it took me a while to get this chapter out guys. I had it written a couple days ago and hadn't had the chance to proof-read it before posting it until now. So it is proof-read and finished now. I was supposed to have a couple days to write, actually, but it turned out differently (doesn't it always?) and I ended up with a lot going on all at once. Like, I got accepted to a college the other day! :D WHOOT! (Although, I totally failed, because I had seen the bumper sticker in the letter first and got all obsessed with using it as a decoration on my laptop that I forgot about the letter and didn't find out until later it was an acceptance letter -_-'). And then, just yesterday, I got ANOTHER letter, and it was a $15,000 scholarship! Lots of good stuff were happening... then I got into a fight with my mom, and my step-mom started to be a bitch to me because I'm doing better than her son, and yeah... it all sort of turned to shit today, but whatever..._**

**_Anyways, you guys aren't interested in my bitching! You just want to know what's going on with cute little Sora and Roxas! :D Well, I had some spare time (away from home and laptop unfortunately), so I started drawing some fan art (is it fan art when it's my own story?) for this story. It's just a rough sketch, but I'll probably post it to my deviantart some time soon. I'll provide a link with the next chapter. And, since I know I'll get a bunch a questions along the lines, "WHO DID THAT TO ROXIE! I'LL CUT THEM! SHANK BITCH!" I left a hint to the culprit at the end of the chapter._**

_**Chapter 11**_

The rumors were still spreading, Roxas was hearing them everywhere now. Especially in the halls, it wasn't like in teen films or anything where the main character walks down the hall to people pointing and whispering and gossiping. No, in reality, not enough people gave a shit about him particularly to talk about him 24/7, so it wasn't like he felt he was in a spotlight all the time.

It was more like in class, when he hears a group of girls suddenly burst out laughing, and he turns to see them quickly look away from him, or when a small ball of paper will hit him and he goes to glare at who threw it but the guy will pretend he doesn't have any idea what he's talking about, some smug smirk on his face like he's the best shit ever for being the person to think to throw a paper ball at someone.

So, yeah, it wasn't like it was subtle, but at the same time, it wasn't that cliché torture that you see in the teen movies. Plus, with all the new bullying rules out now, you had to be more careful about what you said or did to others, getting caught could mean being arrested now…

One thing that was definitely the worst though was the texts. He didn't know who they were from, and he didn't know how these people got his cell phone number, but it didn't matter much to him who it was—just what they were texting. At first, it wasn't anything big, petty insults like, _"faggot,"_ and the regular (real original), _"no one likes you just die."_ He had gotten these before sometimes in the past, just a couple every once in awhile but you have to expect there to be people like that when you're as well known as him. But it had never really been in such a notable amount, half of his inbox was filled with these kinds of insults, eventually graduating from petty to detailed accounts of why these people hated him.

He doesn't want to sound like a pussy, but they do sorta sting after awhile.

Either way, he supposed if he just started to ignore any text from a number not in his contacts, it wouldn't hurt him.

The real problem, though, was that these people really hated him, people in this school hated him this much, and he couldn't figure out what he did to change everyone from being on his side to everyone despising him.

He really hadn't expected things to go this far, to be honest. And he blamed the rumors. They were spreading like a disease, and like with other particularly dangerous diseases, this had to be quarantined. The rumors needed to be contained and killed. If he could just find the person who was spreading them, then he could get them to stop, and then the rumors would probably die off. So he just had to find who this person was…

It wasn't Sora. Sure, Sora talked about him, but Roxas got the feeling Sora wouldn't say anything particularly bad about him. He was probably half the reason why a good portion of the insults have to do with calling him gay somehow. But, still, he wouldn't call Sora the exact reason for all of this, because while he does talk—he is _always_ talking—he believed that most people thought of it as _just talk_. People never usually listened to him anyways, unless he was making a threat of sorts.

Without Kairi and Riku around though, Sora wouldn't have nearly as much attention on him as he usually did. Riku was like an alpha male of a human wolf pack, and Kairi was the queen of the beehive among the girls of the school. How Sora ever managed to get to be friends with those two, he didn't dare to ask why God allowed it, but it was probably that gift of talking he has. That is how he managed to get his way with everything after all…

He's just really… personable, amiable even. He was usually just a really easy person to get along with for some reason. It was like he was a magnet for people, for some reason, the moment he got someone into a conversation; it was over for them, even if they hated him previously, they would end the day as buddies, or at least acquaintances on good terms. It had worked with Kairi and Riku, with Principal Larxene back when Sora pushed him into that fountain, on Seifer when he was convinced to torment Roxas, and… well, him.

Sure, he wouldn't call himself buddies with Sora, but considering how a few weeks ago he thought Sora was trash… he would say that Sora even managed to work some of that talking magnetism power on him.

So, no, he didn't think it was Sora who would be spreading these rumors about him, but someone else, probably someone who was just as popular and well-known in the school, someone who people would listen to, even if it was just petty gossip. But he couldn't think of anyone like that in this school that would also have such a grudge against him…

_**YEAH IT'S ANOTHER LINE PEOPLE, MORE GHETTO LINES FOR ALL, PRAISE THEIR ABILITY TO LET ME BE LAZY WITH INSERTING REAL LINES!**_

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

Sora glanced over to Riku, the silver haired teen standing in front of him with his arms crossed sternly, a disapproving grimace on his features. He looked up at him from his seat on the side of the fountain, the same one he pushed Roxas into just a few weeks ago, but he couldn't really reminisce about that at the moment. Riku had never really questioned him about anything before, he had always just… seen things the same way as him…

"… Yeah, I'm sure. Why do you ask?"

Riku just scowled deeper, his glance flickering over to the redhead that sat about a foot away from Sora, furiously texting on the phone in her hand, her violet eyes shifting up when the two boys stopped talking, analyzing the situation between the two, "It's just that… Well, Sora, you plan little pranks and everything. You know, like the time you locked yourself and Roxas in the closet freshman year? I mean, all you did was molest him in there, you had been planning on making him realize that it could feel good from a guy, and make him all confused about his sexuality, so you could get in his pants later. But you never really went… this far. Like… this isn't just a little prank anymore, this is gonna be serious."

Sora blinked at her, nodding slowly in understanding, then turned the intense sapphire eyes to Riku once again, "Don't worry about it, Ku, we're just gonna scare him a bit. He's been asking about my dad a lot, and… it's better if he knows as little as possible, you guys know that. So, it'll be a quick scare to make him back off.

"We leave a note in his locker saying to be at the boys' locker room at lunch, he'll walk in and you'll grab him from behind, make sure to cover his eyes and mouth. And Cloud will be there to help you, too, if you really think you'll have that much of a problem…"

Riku glared slightly at the brunette's teasing smirk, "I won't have a problem holding Roxas of all people down, he's scrawny as a stick… How'd you manage to get Cloud into this, too?"

Sora shrugged a bit, brushing it off, "They're just beginning to restore that gang to what it was originally meant to be, do you really think he wants someone digging around in their past and raising all the bad rumors about them again? Besides, if Roxas dug too far, and the police were involved, and they find out that the gang isn't gone, they're gonna be riding their asses again."

"What's Cloud going to say, I mean," Kairi began, not taking her eyes off her phone, "How is he going to scare Roxas off of finding out about Zack?"

Sora shrugged a bit, "I didn't ask, you know he's not one of those talkative types. He'll probably just say something about backing off of the Heartless."

Kairi nodded slowly, then turned her head up to them, "Wait, what if someone walks into the locker room, it's not like you can lock the doors or anything."

Sora shook his head, "It's really unlikely, they're doing some pussy indoor sport and the showers are being worked on, so they aren't even allowed to go in there, the coach put a note up on the door."

He looked between his two friends, watching their faces turn down as they thought the plan over again in their minds, making him frown at their hesitancy. Quickly, he took a step forward and grinned at them as reassuringly as possible, "Hey, c'mon you guys, this plan isn't going to fail. Roxas will back off, and then we can go back to the everyday thing."

Riku snorted, turning to walk back into the school, but Sora saw the tenseness disappear from his shoulders, making him grin as he also began to head towards the school again. Kairi quickly jumped up after him, "Hey, Sora, wait a second."

Sora stopped, looking back to her as she nibbled at her lip nervously, "What about the harassment he's getting? Don't you think you should try and cool it down, instead of waiting for him to come crying to you or something. Get real, Sor, he's not a girl, you know guys, especially guys like him, aren't just going to open up all that suddenly. And the way it's going… it's harsh, Sor, just say the word and I can get everyone to back off."

Sora smirked, "Leave it, I'm not trying to hurt him, Kai, you know that, but it's because Roxas isn't the type to open up his feelings that I'm doing this to him. 'To lose is to find, to find is to lose.' Marluxia isn't wrong when it comes to guys, so I'm gonna listen to him. It'll hurt him at first but… it'll help."

Kairi stood still for a second, then sighed, "How's this gonna help him at all, Sor? You're going to crush all his dreams just to get in his pants, and say it helps him? How does it help him Sor, because I only see how it helps you right now."

Sora frowned, his eyebrows coming together angrily, "You really think that's all this is, for me to get into his pants? When have I ever been that guy, Kai? If I just wanted to fuck him—I would have done that by now!"

"Really?" Kairi sneered, placing her hands on her hips as she marched forward to get into Sora's face more. Sora had to hand it to the girl, she was small, but when she wanted to she could be menacing, and the look she was giving him was nothing less than dangerous, "Really, Sora? I don't see that. Freshmen year, you force him in a closet to make out with him, you teased him and watched him for three years acting like you don't still want him, but then it suddenly starts all over again as soon as you realize this is your last year, and that your chance with him is starting to disappear. And now you're roping him along like a toy! When he does feel like he's lost everything, his reputation, his friends, and you expect him to run into your arms, what are you going to do?"

Sora was glaring at her, there was no fire behind it, but the glare was frozen on her, and Kairi just waited for him to respond to that. When it didn't come, when he just continued to stand there, when his glare began to drop and his eyes turned to the ground, she finally dropped her arms from her hips, frowning more softly up to him.

"I know you aren't used to the idea of actually having feelings for a person, Sor, I know you don't want to admit that you do like him more than just for sex, and that you aren't really just doing all this to get him in bed… You have to be gentler with him, alright? Face it, you do have feelings for him, and if you don't want to chase him away, you have to be careful with how you handle him."

Sora sighed deeply, lifting his arms to fold them behind his head, his hands were sweating as he turned his eyes up to the sky now, avoiding the violet gaze in front of him, "Marluxia-"

"Marluxia doesn't know guys… He knows their dicks," Just the way she said it made Sora cringe, her crudeness making him remember the type of guy Marluxia really is, "Don't get me wrong, Marly is amazing, beautiful, hilarious, and everything. But he has no idea what a relationship outside the bedroom is. If you wanted just sex from Roxas, then Marly would be the first person to get advice from, but you don't want just sex, Sor."

He sighed slowly, turning to walk towards the school, "Let them keep talking for awhile… He's got too much of a high and mighty attitude anyways."

Kairi rolled her eyes, walking after him as she flipped her phone out again, mumbling to herself in irritation, "Well, look who's talking…"

_**OH. EM. GEE. GUYS…...**_

_..._**_..._**_**IT'S ANOTHER LINE.**_

Roxas sighed to himself, quickly walking over to his locker. Looking down at the combination, he frowned as he realized that it was unlocked. Slowly, he opened the metal door, looking around the locker's contents to see nothing upset inside. Then he spotted the note on the back of the door, ripping it off to read it.

Raising his eyebrow at the poor penmanship of the writer, his eyes were immediately caught on the words, "Sora Evans' past." He didn't really need any more convincing, the writer was offering information, he would take that information without a second thought. He threw his bag and things into his locker and immediately headed towards the boys locker room, where the meeting place had been arranged.

The first class bell rang, and distantly he realized he was going to be skipping class for this, but that was completely insane for him, he would normally never do this. He halted in the hallway for a moment, his eyes growing wide as he realized exactly how insane he was becoming over all of this, all of Sora. This was going too far, it was becoming an obsession! It was one thing that somehow all of his time out of school (some even during school) has recently been spent with Sora, and how he was researching Sora's father and his involvement with the Heartless gang, but he was distancing himself from his friends, and his reputation with the rest of the school was quickly falling, and now he was ditching class…

This was becoming getting out of control, he had to get it together… After this meeting. He needed to know who would go this far to talk to him about all this. To even break into his locker to leave him a note. He would find out what this was about, and then he would forget about it, he would get back to his life, he had to get into an Ivy League, maybe Harvard-no, Sora might be going there. He'll go to Yale or somewhere else…

He shook his head, quickly rushing down the steps and down the hallway that held the heavy metal doors to the girl's and boy's locker room. He never really understood why the doors were metal of all things, but there was a running joke among the girls that it was to protect the rest of the school from their smell… He wore deodorant and cologne, alright? He smelled good! His shampoo AND body wash was strawberry scented!

The door slammed behind him after he slipped in, walking the couple steps through the small hallway to the wooden door that opened to the boy's locker room. He walked past the rows of lockers, glancing around to see if the person who wrote the note was around. He didn't see anyone, so he kept walking until he finally reached the boy's showers. The metal door there was most likely not wood to keep it from rotting, but it was still creepy that it was metal too.

For a moment, Roxas hesitated before opening the door, suddenly wondering why there weren't dozens of guys getting changed right now for first period gym. He thought he remembered Hayner saying that they would be having a few classes on indoor sports like ping-pong and everything… Were they not required to get changed for those? Eh, probably not, you would have to be really into ping pong to get sweaty from it.

He shrugged it off, to be honest he didn't even know if they were doing ping pong, he didn't pay that much attention to the class since he didn't have it. For all he knew, a class would burst in any minute. So he shrugged and decided not to waste time then, and he pulled the metal door open, about to walk in when he suddenly felt pain blossom in the back of his head.

White spots twinkled in front of his eyes for a moment, and he was vaguely aware of being dragged somewhere, of his pockets being emptied, but he didn't pay it much mind while his head swam. Before he completely blacked out, though, he could of sworn he heard a waterfall…

_**LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY LINE LAZY AUTHOR…**_

Sora yawned and let his eyes drift over to the clock, watching the minutes tick by impatiently. They still had another half hour until lunch, meaning he still had another half hour to think over and over about what they were going to do. After first period, Kairi had slipped into the halls on a "bathroom break" to really pick the lock on Roxas' locker. She left the note on the inside, writing in possibly the most feminine, gut-wrenchingly cute, cursive writing, complete with little hearts above the 'I's and everything, making it some love confession and to meet her in the boy's locker room because it would be empty today.

Personally, Sora thought it was completely unbelievable (it would be more believable if Sora wrote the note, though), and that Roxas wasn't going to buy it at all… Then again, Roxas would probably go to the boys' lockers just to find out who was the one to pull the prank on him anyways (something he wouldn't bother with if the note was from Sora). He was the type of guy who liked to have all the answers.

… The entire thing just made Sora want to write Roxas a secret love note though, it would be so cute! Especially to see his face while he reads it! There would probably be that little blush on his face, just before he completely turns red and starts getting angry at him… So cute.

Anyways, back to the main topic at hand, Kairi sat in front of him, texting away, most likely to Riku to make sure he was ready with everything. Riku should have skipped this period to go meet up with Cloud behind the school, and they were going to get ready and go down to the lockers. Sora would leave class five minutes early with the excuse that he felt completely sick and wanted to get to the nurse before the halls filled up, and then he would hide in the bathroom while Riku and Cloud went through with the threatening. Then they would lock Roxas in the last stall and rush out, Roxas would most likely be yelling for help at this point (or texting for it, if he is the type to not panic and think things through), and that's when Sora would step out of his stall and let Roxas out. He would act like he had no idea what was going on so that he wouldn't be a suspect, and he would seem like the hero at the same time for letting Roxas out!

Maybe he would get a "my hero" kiss…

Probably not, but he wouldn't let logic and reality to bring down his dreams.

The minutes were ticking by, he looked to the clock to see twenty minutes left of the class, and then laid his head down on the desk to begin the act… or at least not seem so random when asking to go to the nurse. He listened to the sound of pencils against papers, to the teacher at the front of the class, his voice droning, and the light taps of Kairi's fingers against her hidden cell phone's keys…

_**JEEEEZ, HOW MANY LINES AM I GOING TO PUT IN THIS CHAPTER ANYWAYS? I FEEL LIKE I'VE USED A DOZEN ALREADY!**_ _**JUST HOW MANY UNTIL IT'S OVER?**_

In his dream, he knew he was dreaming, but it didn't matter, because he had to do everything anyways. Everything was… taking a bath.

He would sit in the tub all day, at first the tub was empty, but then it was slowly filled, the water ice cold of course. For some reason, it made sense that he wouldn't sit in warm water.

He would sit there all day, day after day, sometimes reaching for the soap or shampoo, and he would never stop washing himself, and he would never run out of soap, and he would never get pruned, he would just be clean. He would clean and clean and clean, and then eventually he realized he was cleaning himself away. It was weird, and sort of tingled… more like itched…

It didn't hurt though; it was relaxing, relieving more like it.

Then Sora was suddenly sitting at the edge of the tub grinning down at him. At first, he thought that maybe he was trying to sneak a peek, but then he realized he'd already cleaned the bottom half of himself away, so there wasn't much to peek at…

Of course, he wondered a bit if Sora had always been there, but that would mess with the flow of the dream, so he just went with it. And Sora leaned over to press his lips against Roxas' forehead. In the back of his mind, he knew that was a kiss, but it didn't really register as one, it felt more like lip pressing.

Sora pulled at his arms then, pulling him out of the tub, but he frowned at that, he didn't want to get out of the tub. Sora could go screw himself, he wanted to stay in the tub, he kept pulling though, and it was really annoying and…

Then he woke up. And he realized that he was laying against the wall in the small showers room, with water already up to his ribs, making him groan. Or maybe it was the spinning, throbbing, pain that was his brain bitching at him, but yeah, it could be both, too. He started to try and get to his knees anyways, though, pushing himself up slowly from there to standing, frowning as he realized that the water was already up to his knees. That didn't make any sense though, that was a lot of water, and there were drains in here…

Looking around at the shower heads, he realized they were gone, the water rushing out of them, making the sudden amount of water seem more plausible now. Slowly, careful of the nausea his throbbing head was causing him, he sloshed through the water towards one of the drains, there should have been one in front of each shower, but the one he looked at seemed closed. He got on his knees, attempting to force it open, but the pressure of the water made it hard, and there was no switch or anything to make it easier for him, the sharp metal of the drain beginning to cut into his fingers as he tried to force it open. Eventually, he gave up on it, standing again to see the water was no nearly mid-thigh on him, making his anxiety begin to rise.

Pushing through the water towards the door, he banged a bit against it, yelling for someone to let him out, but nothing came. Sighing, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone to find it missing. He froze at that moment, the sudden realization of his situation beginning to actually click in his head…

He was locked in a room, slowly filling with water, without anyone to hear him calling for help…

He began panicking quickly after that, he screamed for help as he began slamming his fists against the metal door, trying to force it open himself, but finding it impossible, making him realize it was locked. Someone locked him in here! His fingers were shaking as he leaned against the door, resting his face against the cool metal, he was becoming more aware of how dense and cold the water felt as it rose higher against his body and pressed in against him, how hard it seemed to breathe the air as the room seemed to shrink as the water rose, how small and thin and pathetic his voice sounded as he continued to shout and slam his fists against the metal door.

He wasn't to the point of crying yet, or he thought he wasn't, at least, as his hair and face had gotten wet at some point and he was starting to get dizzy from everything pressing in on him in his head. In the background, behind the door, he could've swore he heard a door slam closed, making him suddenly pick up his shouts for help, his hands slamming against the metal door hard enough that he was sure there would be bruising. He needs to get out, though, the water was getting higher, and the trembling in his legs and hands were unbearable, he wasn't sure if it was from fear or the cold water, but it didn't matter because he just wanted it to stop.

Finally, after what felt like much too long, the door was pulled open and he was pushed out violently as all the water slammed against him as it rushed out, throwing him against the person who had opened the door. Arms wrapped around him as he felt himself and the person hit the floor, water rushing past them, but he didn't push them off immediately, attempting to fend the trembling off a bit by pretending the grasp around him was more out of reassurance.

He waited until the water stopped rushing before slowly looking away from the now soaked school-issued dress shirt of the person, looking up to see who had opened the door… then looked away again, feeling like he should just go hang himself.

Now, what were the odds that when he was in a life and death situation, that Sora Fair would miraculously appear to save him like a damsel in distress?

Fate was a bitch… a cruel, cliché, ironic, bitch.

**_DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO DID THAT TO ROXIE? HUH? DO YOU? I BET YOU DO! WELL GUESS WHAT?_**

**_I'm not gonna tell ya! :D But I will give you a hint, alright? HINT: it's a character you know already, as in I already introduced the character in the story._**

**_Anybody want to take a guess? I will be more than amused to see who you guys guess, because I think I did a pretty damn good job of mentioning them, but not giving too much away, you know? I mean, I won't tell you if you guess right (because then that would give everything away), but it'd just be cool to see who you guys think it is..._**

**_Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter should come out sometime this week, too! Reviews are loved, thank you!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Hmm, I'd say there should only be one or two chapters left to be honest guys! This story is almost done! :D_**

**_Are you guys excited? I am!_**

**_Anyways, yeah, since I'd feel bad if I didn't tell you guys who did that to Roxie, I did include it. But I hope you guys aren't disappointed! No one guessed it! xD Everyone was guessing Cloud (who hadn't even had a line in the story yet), Seifer (who has only ever been mentioned), Hayner (okay, yeah, I can see why you guys think it's him), and then the funny ones. Like the creepy janitor or a rampaging "Zexster." xD Honestly, I thought she was highly suspicious... Yeah, that's right... SHE._**

**_Well, I hope you guys like this chapter anyways, reviews will be loved greatly, and you can start looking forward to the end!_**

_**Chapter 12**_

If it weren't for the absolute genuine shock on Sora's face right now, Roxas would have already pinned everything that had just happened on Sora as some dumb plan of his to win him over or something. He wouldn't put it past Sora after all. But the brunette's eyes were as wide as tires right now, and his jaw was slack like he expected the last person for him to be holding right now was Roxas, and then he just looked angry… no, not angry. It was just this really **dark** look.

He'd say pissed, but pissed wasn't even where it ended, it went beyond that, and Roxas was beyond grateful he wasn't the receiver of that look. But who was Sora looking at? Breathing deeply, he tried to move to look to who Sora was giving that look to behind him, but Sora wouldn't let him move, continuing to hold him against his chest. Roxas wanted to push him off, but felt like now would just be the wrong moment to do it.

Movement caught the corner of his eye, making his glance flicker over to see Riku slowly stepping into the boy's showers, a large, long, piece of rubber in his hands. It took Roxas a moment to realize it, but he figured, in a detached sort of way, that the rubber must have been shoved under the bottom crack of the door to keep water from leaking out… He watched as Riku looked at the showers, still spraying water down in torrents, the silver haired teen glaring at the shower knobs before huffing and bending over, now easily opening the drains without the water's pressure blocking them, then he turned with a huff as he stepped out with a soaked shirt and hair.

"I didn't do anything, Sora, you know that."

Roxas flinched as he heard the deep voice from behind him, his breath catching as he realized it was the person Sora was looking at. He got a bad feeling about the voice, he got a bad feeling of the tension in the room, he just got a bad feeling altogether right now… One of Sora's hands clenched the back of his head tightly, pulling it down to rest his forehead against the brunette's chest. He tensed slightly from this, feeling Sora's other arm run around his back, pulling his entire body closer.

He debated pushing him off for a second before he realized what Sora was really doing. He didn't want Roxas looking around. He was tense to the point where it was painful already, his heart pumping so quickly that it was a bit painful now, but he felt too scared to move. Someone had tried to hurt him (maybe even kill him if Sora hadn't showed up), and now Sora was keeping him from seeing this other guy behind him, and… What was going on? Was this really just about Zack Fair? Why would a dead guy—no matter how important he was to a gang and police—still be important enough to kill someone else over?

"Who did you tell about Roxas?" Sora's voice was deep, he could feel it vibrate through the teen's chest, a sudden shiver rushing through his body from it. The normal warmth in that voice was still there, but instead now turned up to an unbearable hot—scorching level.

Who is standing behind him? Why would it be so important if he was mentioned by this guy? Was he related to Zack also? How did Sora know him? Was he involved with the Heartless? God DAMMIT, couldn't Sora just let him SEE him at least?

"I didn't tell anyone about him, Sora. This was strictly between us, you know that," The stranger's voice was so calm, more than that. It was like remorse was laced within every word he spoke, regret weighed down his sentences. Roxas didn't get the feeling this guy was dangerous to him at all… Just that this was a guy who was in mourning for some reason.

"No one at all? Not even Leon? Then who would do this, huh?" Sora was angry, there was a growl in his voice, it ripped through his chest, sent shock waves into Roxas, making the blonde slowly, gently place his hands against the other's chest, like he was trying to suppress the rage leaking out of him, the pounding of a heart resonated against his palms heavily instead. It didn't sound like Sora anymore. How did this get so serious?

"Not even Leon, and you know Leon wouldn't do something like this anyways! He's much more direct!" Wait… what are they even talking about anymore? They weren't being serious, were they?

"Well, then who did it? Huh, who would have tried this if you didn't tell anyone?"

"A student?"

"There's no motive! No one would come up with something so planned! No one here has the balls!"

He couldn't understand what they were talking about anymore, all the words were rushing past his ears, it vaguely sounded like a waterfall…

Sora just glared at the blonde man now, knowing that Cloud wasn't the one to blame for this. This was a man who didn't make promises; his words alone were a swear of his loyalty. If he said he didn't tell anyone, it meant he told no one at all. It was wrong to point his anger at him, but he felt like he was just set on fire or something. Who but someone who was directly linked to the Heartless could have known that Roxas was digging too far into their history?

Then there was the fact that this person would have had to sneak into the school and not be seen on either his way in or out. That in itself would make you think that the person was a student, but no one at the school would have that kind of grudge against Roxas, nothing that was this serious. Kairi would have told him if the teasing and harassment went this far, and while she did say it was getting harsh, she never said anything about there being a chance someone would actually get violent.

Roxas' weight in his arms seemed so heavy now, like the teen's life was in his hands, but it wouldn't get that serious, he wouldn't let it. He would stop this person right now, he wouldn't let Roxas get hurt by all of this. He looked up over to Riku, the silver haired teen just stepping out of the coach's office, making him realize the showers had finally shut off and that Riku and Roxas were still completely soaked, he didn't let it distract him too much though, "Riku, can you text or call Kairi? Ask her if she knows of anyone at all, in and out of school, that could have the motivation to…"

Riku didn't need him to finish, immediately nodding and slipping his hand into his pocket, he hit a speed dial button and held it to his ear, looking around the locker room to Cloud then, "You should probably get out of here now, before someone sees you."

Cloud nodded slowly, looking to the floor for a moment before looking back to Sora, the brunette's head resting now against the blonde head in his hold. He looked down at him sympathetically, and then sighed, "I'll also dig around a bit, but I don't think there's anyone with us who even knows of his existence."

Sora nodded a bit in thanks, "Sorry I…"

"Forget about it."

Sora shook his head, looking up to continue before he realized Cloud had already left, frowning at he remembered the man's tendency to do that quite often. He looked over to Riku, who was whispering quietly into his phone, and then turned his attention back down to the blonde in his arms, slowly letting up on the force he was holding him with.

Just as slowly, Roxas' head rose from his chest until he was sitting up straight, Sora's other arms still wrapped around his back though. He didn't really seem to notice though, looking straight at Sora with the same frosty eyes before finally speaking a bit, "I… Um, I think I'm just going to go home now… Thanks."

Sora's eyes widened as the blonde began to stand, making his heart skip before he snatched the teen's wrist and forced him back in front of him, "But you said you were going to come over today!"

Roxas just blinked at him slowly for a second, then for another second, and then another, before he finally seemed to comprehend and form a proper reply, "I… what?"

Sora forced a sly grin to his face, rolling his eyes at the boy, "Yesterday, at the blood drive, you said you would come over my place today. So I'll take you to my house, alright?"

Roxas' mouth slowly seemed to open, his eyebrows coming together uncomfortably, "Uh, well, I just… I'm wet, I need to change my clothes, and my sister is probably worried because the school would have called about me skipping classes-"

"You can borrow some of my clothes! And we can call your sister, tell her that everything is fine and you're with me now!" Sora didn't leave any more room for debate, pulling the blonde up to his feet and beginning to lead him to the door out of the locker rooms.

"Sora!" The brunette halted as he heard Riku call him, the silver haired teen walking over to him and holding out a cell phone and wallet to him, making him take them before Roxas snatched them up quickly, "They were in the coach's office, just sitting there on the desk. Kairi doesn't know anything either, sorry."

Sora shook his head slowly, grinning up at the other carefully, "No, thanks Riku, it's alright though, we'll figure this out."

Roxas kept his eyes to the floor this time as Sora led him out of the locker room, looking up before the door closed to nod slightly to Riku, the silver haired teen just smirking in amusement at him. Sora had a fast pace as he led him outside, walking across the parking lot towards the beat-up car Roxas identified as Vanitas'.

"How'd you get Vanitas' car?" He asked suddenly, halting them by tugging back at Sora's hand.

The brunette jerked to a stop, looking between the sad excuse for a vehicle and the blonde teen next to him, then shrugged, "Your cousin slept over last night, Vanitas wanted a good excuse for him to not leave so quick in the morning. He can't leave if they have no car to drive around with, right?"

Roxas' eyebrow raised, "So, being a sick, diabolical pervert runs in the family?"

Sora chuckled a bit, "Actually, it tends to skip a generation. My dad and Auron are fairly straight forward people."

"I wonder how Auron bares living with you two…" Roxas mumbled, giving in and jumping into the backseat as Sora hopped into the driver's seat.

Sora just grinned at him, pulling out of the parking spot and immediately going up to a speed that was much too fast for a parking lot. Roxas' knuckles turned white as his fingers dug into the leather upholstery, feeling much déjà-vu in this moment.

So… hazardous driving apparently ran in the family too.

_**LINE LINEY LINED LINE, LOVELY LINES LINING LINEN LEGGINGS, LANGUID LANGERIE LIVING LIES, A LOT MORE L WORDS, LINE, LINE, LINE!**_

Sora sighed to himself as he stepped into the apartment, Roxas seeming to second-guess himself before also hesitantly taking a step inside, avoiding Sora's eyes as they walked past the kitchen and into the dimly lit living room.

The first thing Sora saw in there was his cousin leaning on a familiar looking blonde, Ven. The blonde looked up over the back of the couch to them, his head nodding towards Sora before his eyes turned to Roxas and seemed to freeze. The next second, Vanitas was on the floor and Ven was already at Roxas, "What-Why are you wet, what happened? Did he push you in the fountain?"

Sora's eyebrows jumped up at that, but restrained himself from saying anything as his eyes were instead caught on Vanitas bitterly climbing off the floor, golden eyes sending a scathing glare in their direction before it locked with Sora's, the brunette turning to interrupt the two cousins beside him, "Hey, Ven, bring Roxie upstairs and help him get changed. My clothes are the second drawer, the bottom has socks and shit."

Ven's eyes widened as he nodded and quickly began tugging Roxas upstairs to change him out of the still slightly wet clothing, Vanitas glaring after them before sighing and turning his gaze back to his own cousin, "You better haven't had gotten my upholstery wet, leather ain't fucking cheap, I'll-"

"Fuck that, it's not important!" Sora snapped, making Vanitas' eyes suddenly turn hostile, but then he continued before giving the other a chance to rave about his damn leather seats, "Someone tried to fucking kill him, Vani! They locked the fucking metal door on him in the fucking showers and was filling the room up with water, they were trying to drown him in there!"

Vanitas just looked at him for a second, his gaze less than impressed, then a shocked grunt seem to jump from his throat, making Sora flinch in surprise… but the moment the laughter started to rip from his cousin's throat, he swore he never felt so damn pissed in his life, "He almost fucking died and you're laughing? This isn't a joke, Vanitas! This is serious, death is serious, Roxas is SERIOUS!"

Vanitas' laughter continued for another couple moments, manically reverberating against the walls maddeningly. Sora hated the sound of it, how it made the room feel like it was shrinking, but he'd grown used to the effects that sick laugh of his has on people, and he wasn't going to back down just because he sounded as psychotic as a psycho killer. He was about to shout some more over the mad hysterics when they were suddenly gone. He held his breath unconsciously as the golden eyes slowly turned to lock with his again, completely grave in their depths, without a single hint of real amusement.

"You're fucking retarded," Vanitas' sneer nearly made him punch the guy, but he stayed still, he took a deep breath and calmed himself… actually containing it for later, after he got Vanitas' opinions on the events. The guy was insane and would drive him right down with him, but he knew what he was talking about most of the time, and he would tell him all the truth, too.

Vanitas took a deep breath, walking around to fall back on the couch, patting the spot next to him, making Sora grit his teeth in anxious irritation as he also tensely sat next to his cousin, glaring at him to spit the words out already. Vanitas smirked first, then gave, "How does any of that make sense, really? Think about it you dumbass, just listen to yourself. This guy would break into a high school to lock Blondie in a shower room, just to slowly fill the room with water in an attempt to kill him, to kill _**Blondie**_. I mean, shit, yeah he's been digging a bit, but nothing that would cause that much shit."

Sora's teeth were gritting together, the noise causing shivers to rush down his spine uncomfortably, but finding he was unable to stop, "Because he knows me, the attention on him-"

"Get over yourself," Sora's eyes widened as he turned them to look back at Vanitas, the black haired man just snorting and rolling his eyes, "So what if you're Zack kid? You get a bit of a reputation around Hollow Bastion for having a bad ass dad like him, but Heartless ain't dumb. They know you know shit in reality, they know all you know is who's in the gang and a couple things your dad did, nothing that can be pinned directly to them. So they don't really give a shit who the fuck you are or who the fuck you want to fuck."

"Then…" Sora sighed slowly, eyes turning down, feeling a bit insulted but highly relieved at the same time, "Then… this isn't related to the Heartless?"

"Of course it is! What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you shitting out of your head already?" Sora's jaw dropped as he glared at Vanitas, the golden eyed man just sneering devilishly before leaning back once again, "What high school kid would be able to plan out a murder that slow, that torturous, that well thought out? That would have to be a real sick guy, let me tell you…"

"Didn't you-"

"We're not getting into that," Vanitas stated blandly, cutting Sora off quickly before he could point out the things that Vanitas himself did when in high school, then moved on rapid pace, "The point is that this is something the Heartless would_ seem_ to get involved in, but in reality they wouldn't give a shit about what you were doing or who you're doing, or the petty digging that he was attempting to accomplish. And it isn't a student, because I'm probably one of the very few who would have been able to plan a death that would be slow, torturous, and cruel, and then actually go through with it."

"Then who the hell would do that?" Sora snapped, jumping off the couch to glare down at his cousin, the black haired man continuing to smirk up at him infuriatingly.

"No one."

"What the fuck are you on? Of course someone did this! Roxas wouldn't do this to himself-"

"You got the facts wrong, with what you're telling me…" Vanitas paused for a second, staring at Sora until the brunette slowly got the clue and once again tensely sat down, "With the facts that you've told me, you said that Roxas was locked in the showers, a room that was slowly filling with water and would have the slow act of drowning him… But that wouldn't work."

Sora's eyebrows raised a bit, then narrowed together, about to ask what his cousin meant, but didn't have to as he continued nonetheless, "Think about it Sor. That entire room wouldn't fill with water. I've seen that school, it is fucking expensive, and you said that the door was metal, right? So the entire showers room was an old room, it sounds like. Was there a window in there?"

Sora's brain worked slowly, but he nodded slowly, distantly, remembering there being a small window in the back of the room that they would open in the spring to air out the steam, and a fan not too far from it on a different wall that they would turn on instead in the winter and fall. Vanitas snorted, "Well, there you have it. The moment the water hit the level of that window, Roxas would have realized it was there, he would have opened it, and the water would stay at that level until help would eventually come, like the coach to go to his office, or someone to change for their damn sport play dates. Was there a fan in the room?"

Again, Sora nodded slowly, gulping as he looked down to the floor in thought, Vanitas continuing relentlessly, "Making me even more right! The water would have gotten into the vent at that level, causing it to fill, and the water would either weigh it into collapsing and drawing attention, or it would have filled it until the water turned up leaking out somewhere else and drawing attention to it there…

"Someone would have found him, Sor, and he would have lived. They weren't trying to kill him."

Sora breathed in slowly, biting his lip, "Why would they do that though? Why don't you tell me that, huh? Who the hell would want to plan something like this to happen to Roxas anyways?"

Vanitas paused for a second, then sighed, looking over to the brunette beside him, "Honestly, I can only think of two people who would be able to come up with a plan like this and want to go through with it… And one of those people are you…"

Sora looked up at his cousin for a second, eyes wide, waiting, "And the other person?"

Vanitas turned away, standing up, "Forget about it."

"No, Vani-"

"**No**," Sora froze at the tone in Vanitas' voice, making him stare at his cousin in shock now instead, the golden eyes turning around to chill his own as they glanced at one another, "Really. From now on, it didn't happen. Tell Roxas to forget it to. Move on, I'll take care of everything."

Sora hesitated, then nodded shakily, moving slowly as he turned to walk upstairs, leaving Vanitas to stare after him before walking into the kitchen. He slowly took the phone off the wall and began dialing slowly, the ringing afterwards making him smirk as he imagined how she must have been trying to be casual about all this.

"_Hello?"_

"Naminé… What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He sneered, leaning against the wall as he spoke lowly into the phone.

She was quiet for a moment, until he heard a small giggle from her, _"Oh, come on! I knew Sora and Riku would go find him! Kairi told me all about their stupid plan of making Roxas back off the Heartless. I just upgraded the plan to make it work better."_

"So, Kairi helped you? A couple weeks ago she was calling you a back-stabber."

"_A couple weeks ago, she didn't realize how much Sora actually liked my brother. We made peace, Vani, I apologized and she apologized for the sake of those two. It was a petty argument anyways."_

Vanitas was grimacing already, his eyes narrowing in annoyance, "Explain it all from the beginning."

The girl on the other side of the line sighed dramatically, but relented, _"When Sora came up with this dumb plan to scare Roxas into backing off of the Heartless and his father, Kairi was getting worried because she knew it was going too far for Sora. She said he never did anything but messing around with people, never went as far as actually trying to scare them like this, and she didn't like where he was going with it._

"_She called me, and the first thing she did was say that she wanted to make up with me. I was never really that pissed at her to begin with, just a little angry that she was still holding a grudge, so I said my apology first, and then she apologized and jumped right into the topic of those two. She told me all about it, and I came up with the idea of turning it around to actually scaring Roxas for the same reason, and Sora, too, into getting real with Roxas. He can't just keep messing around with him, you know?_

"_I snuck in earlier today with Axel, put the note in Roxas' locker, broke into the coach's office, and hid there until Roxas came in. Axel just hit him in the back of the head with the wood bat, just enough to knock him out, and made sure to turn the fan on and open the window. Plus, that rubber thing I stuffed under the door would have never been able to hold back enough water to even reach the window, it would have been pushed back by the time it reached around his chest and the water would have started to pour out."_

Vanitas sighed, then started to chuckle to himself, "Hey… I've got an offer for you. You wanna play this old game with me, I heard it was getting pretty popular these days…"

_**HAHA, GET IT? VANITAS IS OFFERING HER A SPOT IN A GANG! HAHA, THAT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL, IS IT? EH, WHATEVER, I'LL SHUT UP NOW.**_

Sora stopped at the top of the stairs, turning the corner slowly to look into his room hesitantly, but freezing when he heard the harsh gasps from inside. It sounded like… sobbing. Gulping heavily, he slowly exhaled to try and calm himself, then turned the corner fully just to let his jaw drop.

They were… trying to not burst out laughing. Roxas was on his bed, his hands over his mouth as his entire body shook with laughter and his eyes watered, and Ven was on the floor, his hands clutching his ribs as he finally just let the laughter out. Needless to say, Sora was completely confused with this turn of events. Why the hell were they laugh-oh.

Oh, they saw the underwear drawer… Oh, they saw Kairi's gag gift to him from last year. You know, that pink thong with his name "be-jeweled" on it… Yeah, wow, embarrassment reaching a new level right now, play it off, Sor, play it off…

He smirked foxily as he walked across the floor to Roxas, the blonde actually seeming surprised to see him before his laughter just doubled. Sora took the moment to thoroughly admire the form of the blonde, curled up and shaking with laughter on his bed, the bright smile on his face enough to bring a giant grin to his own, especially when he realized that Roxas was wearing one of his old Zanarkand Abes Blitzball jersey. He reached out slowly, running his fingers down the side of the pale skin on the blonde's face, leaning down, closer to the boy, slowly climbing onto the bed on his knees to properly lean over the teen. Roxas' laughter slowly started to calm down as he became more aware of Sora's position over his body, his eyes beginning to widen as his face was heating to a proper strangled tomato red.

He let his hand fall away from his mouth, Sora's face getting closer to his, letting him see the pink that was beginning to dust the tanned skin of the face in front of him. He was holding his breath, and his heart was rushing out through his ears, and he was pretty positive that he would die of asphyxiation before Sora got the chance to actually kiss him…

Kiss him. Oh, shit, was he really going to let Sora kiss him? They'd done it before, at the hospital, and… and why not? He's not into guys? Um, probably, he's probably not into guys, but this is Sora. Why's Sora so special? Maybe he should push him away, Sora's got a bad reputation, it wouldn't do him any good to be seen with him, but… well, most of the school doesn't like him right now anyways; his reputation can't really be hurt by this. They call him a faggot anyways, they're hateful towards him anyways, so why can't he be happy?

Sora is going to make him happy… right?

… Probably not, he's probably going to drive him insane.

He nearly jumped when Sora's lips suddenly brushed against his, pushing forward against his and making him sigh in relief. He's good with insane if insane can do that to him.

The lips suddenly pulled away from his, though, confusing him as he felt Sora slowly moved his lips to his ear lobe, making Roxas restrain a shiver as his hot breath ran across his ear.

"They're like a hammock for my buddy down there…"

Wait… what?

Roxas' eyes snapped open in confusion to see Sora straddling his waist in front of him, snickering as he watched Roxas' face go from confused, to realization, to absolute anger.

"Get the fuck off me, assmuncher!" Roxas' fist hit Sora's shoulder, making the brunette wince slightly, but try and pin the other's arms underneath him.

Roxas thrashed against the other's hold, but gravity was on Sora's side with this one, giving him more difficulty with pushing the other off. Sora just grinned down at him, chuckling softly to himself as he thought Roxas looked like he was hiding a pout with a scowl, "Wow, that was a creative name."

Roxas just sneered at him, "Just shut up and get off me, dumbass."


	13. Chapter 13

**_Not beta-ed, I just finished writing it! I have to apologize to everyone for such a long wait, and for not replying to reviews, but the point is, I'm back and this is THE FINAL CHAPTER._**

**_I hope everyone likes it, and if anyone is feeling up to looking it over for spelling/grammatical errors, it would be appreciated._**

**_I love all of you very dearly! Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of this!_**

_**Chapter 13**_

_Everyone has a breaking point…_

Roxas thought he knew it all. No, he is still pretty damn sure that he knows a great deal about most things, but he was conscious of that small part of his knowledge that wasn't as knowledgeable as it should be. After all, spending all that time researching them; it would make sense to him that he would know everything there is to know about the Heartless.

Well… he obviously did not know everything there is to know about them.

Sora had told him not to worry about the "accident" that had happened two weeks ago, what he would call his "life-threatening experience." Sora said it was all taken care of and there was nothing to worry about anymore. Obviously, Roxas didn't believe that shit for a second. It had been obvious that Sora had suspected the Heartless, or at least, a gang of some sort, and then communicated with the Heartless about it and did something… probably something… dark…

Or he's just being melodramatic again; Naminé said he was doing that a lot lately.

He doesn't believe what she says about it either though, because she thinks it was just a little prank, that there was no real danger from the beginning. If she didn't think that was dangerous, he was sincerely afraid of what she would consider to be a dangerous situation. So he took it upon himself to not believe what his sister was telling him, she was clearly out of her mind at the moment.

"I am **not** crazy, Roxas…"

The blonde boy turned with an eyebrow rose skeptically, pulling the slightly torn jeans out from his closet. They were Sora's, him and Sora both knew who they actually belonged to, but Roxas would always "forget" to return them and Sora knew that the blonde just liked them too much to really give back. They were as comfortable as his night pants…

"Maybe you're not _crazy_, but there is obviously something wrong with you when you think that my near-death experience was not at all dangerous."

Naminé rolled her eyes, sighing and walking out of his black and white dressing room and into his bedroom, the warm toned colors making her think of the sunsets back in Twilight Town, where they used to live years before. She sighed again, heavily, as she plopped onto his bed, listening to him as he continued looking through his clothes.

She didn't bother replying to him because it would be pointless to try and explain to him what really happened, that he had never been in any real danger because she was the one who had set the entire thing up to begin with… Don't think she didn't feel bad about it, in fact, everyday she felt worse about it, especially when she remembers the reason for doing it. It wasn't even a selfless reason, it wasn't even her just being nosey about her brother's love life, or being a good person, like Kairi, and trying to make her little brother happy. She did it just so that she'd get to talk to Kairi again.

God she had missed that girl, ever since their stupid fight a year ago, they hadn't talked to each other, Kairi just hated her… Then, just out of nowhere, she suddenly knocks on her front door and apologizes, just to help Sora? It made no sense to her, she even felt a little jealous of Sora for having the power to make Kairi apologize to her without doing anything intentionally, while Naminé had struggled so hard before during their fight…

Her thoughts cut off as Roxas stumbled a bit out of his closet, tugging a black and white sneaker on to his foot as he went. She sat up and gave him a quick once over, her eyebrows tugging together strangely at the sight of Sora's jeans and a brown and orange hoodie she had never seen on him before, but it looked brand new, "Trying to set a new trend, Roxie? I would have never taken you for an aspiring fashionita, sorry to break it to you though, ripped jeans have been done."

Roxas glared at her for a moment, but then ignored her comments as he headed towards the door, swinging it open as he began walking out, "Yep, alright, whatever, I gotta go, see you later."

She jumped onto her feet taking a few steps after him in surprise, "Wait, where are you going? Rox?"

"Sora's! I'll be back later!" She heard a door close, and frowned as she knew it would be pointless to try and catch up with him to question further.

A low dull tone caught her attention, making her look around the room curiously before her eyes fell onto the laptop half closed on the desk. Debating for a second about whether or not to snoop turned out to be a useless source of procrastination, _obviously_ she would snoop, it was practically something she should put in her resume. So she walked up to the computer real quick, pushing it to fully open and glancing over the screen, smiling as she realized it was Roxas' email's inbox, showing one unread message from Harvard. She waited a moment, listening as if she were waiting for Roxas to come charging back in throwing a fit about her messing around, but then she clicked on it.

One look at the first line told her exactly what she needed to know, quickly letting her set it back to unread and happily walk out of the room. He might be acting strange right now, but the second he knows he's in at an Ivy League school, he'll be right back to the same old Roxas… Or at least will stop wearing those damn ripped jeans, they smelled like trash.

_No matter how strong, no person on earth can hold their strength against a force so powerful forever…_

Riku sighed as he looked over at the redhead pacing beside him, the sound of washing and dryer machines hummed in the background, some clanging noisily, as he just stared at the man dully from behind his silver bangs. Finally, the redhead stopped, glanced over to the teen sitting in the plastic chair beside him and then sighed.

Finally, Riku jumped out of the chair and pushed the redhead against the wall, "Fucking… tell me what the Heartless did to Roxas, or let me make it clear to you that I will not be stopped from shoving a pistol up your ass and shot your heart out through your anus."

Axel winced at the thought, his grimace turning further down into a displeased scowl... "Alright, Ku, just chill out for a second, alright? Alright. So, um… how about an even trade? Because you know me telling you about the Heartless could get me killed, you know?"

"And not telling me about the Heartless could make me kill you instead, so pick your poison," Riku sneered at him, his aquatic eyes sharpening to daggers, Axel was reminded of why Sora hung-out with this rich prick much too suddenly, he was like a loyal Rottweiler. He caught on to Axel's secret life, and knew it posed a threat to Sora's well-being by threatening Roxas', and so attacked without even having to be ordered by his master…

"And that's why I was thinking an even trade, I may have to die because I'll be telling you this, so I want to at least make sure that I'll be going out in a satisfying way… So, meet me at Huey, Dewey, and Louie's Pub, tonight, at 11, behind the back. I'll get you in, we'll have the rest of this little chat in a more secret place… and I get compensation?" Axel's eyebrows jumped up suggestively.

Riku just stared at him… and stared… his gaze locked in something akin to shock in that moment, and then he just reacted as what Axel said clicked in his head, "FUCK."

"That's exactly what I would like to do to you, hot stuff."

Riku's jaw dropped, his eyes comically wide behind his silver bangs to Axel, "You're serious… aren't you?"

"Well, my buddy down in my pants is pretty serious, and that's my primary thought process, so yes, I'd say I'm pretty damn serious. Now, would you be bringing the lube, or should I? And, also, I don't really have to worry about diseases or anything sense the Heartless will probably kill me soon anyways, but would you like to use a condom, or no?"

Riku suddenly jumped back, his jaw still hanging, his cheeks quickly warming, "I… I-I'm seeing someone!"

"No one who's getting any would be that eager to attack me, Ku, so she's either not real or you're not doing her right," Axel smirked, now leaning back with his arms crossed, a cocky spark in his eyes, "C'mon, do a dying man a favor…"

Riku scoffed, face heating more, "It's illegal, you know. I'm 17, I'm not legal."

"I'm marked for death after they catch wind that I let you know what really went down… Should I give a shit?"

Riku glared, then huffed and stomped off towards the door, making Axel smirk, "See you tonight, Pretty-Boy!"

The bell jingled as Riku grunted and stomped out of the building, leaving Axel to quickly run over to his booth, jumping through the window smoothly to face Vanitas crouching on the floor below the window, "So, what information to tell him is kosher?"

Vanitas rolled his eyes and sighed, standing slowly and yawning, "Alright, get this straight first, you flaming retarded queer fuck, you only tell him that your involvement with the Heartless is limited, that you're basically a footman, if even that, for them. And you are, under NO circumstances, to tell him you know anything about what really is happening with the Heartless. You simply tell him that, on that day, you were ordered to drop certain tools off to a cloaked man on a street corner, and the man mentioned something about creating a little scare for a kid who was getting too nosey. You got it?"

Axel raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you serious? A footman? I was invited to the higher-up's meeting at Twilight Beach!"

"But you didn't make it…"

"Because I ran into Sora and had to take him and Roxas home! You know that!"

"Either way, when you talk to Riku, you're a lowly footman."

Axel pouted, but turned away in a huff, "Whatever… If I give this info to Riku though, won't it just go straight to Sora?"

Vanitas shrugged, "I already told Sora that I took care of everything, he won't question it. The real thing we have to worry about is if it get over to Roxas, he can be a bitch with all his research, and finding out it was the Heartless would just be the match to his C-4."

Axel shrugged, "That blondie has been bugging the shit outta Brownie, hasn't he? Buncha questions?"

Vanitas nodded slowly, "He's looked up everything he can through the internet on the Heartless and Zack Fair already, but he doesn't stop searching for some reason. It's like he thinks there's more to find, I don't see what he's looking for though…"

"Who says he's looking for something?"

Vanitas' eyebrow jumped up, "What the fuck are you talking about? He's a stubborn, smart kid, he wouldn't shut up without finding his answer. He hasn't shut up, so he's still looking."

Axel cocked his head to the side, leaning against the counter on his elbows, "Well, what if it's not about that at all? Like you said, he's a smart, stubborn kid. He's stubborn enough to not admit that he wants to be around a certain someone, but he's smart enough to find an excuse to stick around him."

Vanitas stared at him, then scoffed, "You're a dumbass."

_Maybe it's sometimes better, to just give up and accept things for how they really are, and stop resisting so much…_

Kairi glanced around slowly, as if she were expecting someone to jump out and accuse her of some crime as she quickly knocked at the large door, waiting for Naminé to open it up. The second it cracked open, she didn't even glance at the girl on the other side before she launched herself at the blonde in a giant hug.

Naminé giggled in amusement, hugging back quickly, "OH! Love of my LIFE, how I've missed you so much!"

"Psh, you better have, now where's my dinner?" Kairi smirked at her, hands on her hips before she giggled back, "Okay, no, let's get real. How's Roxie?"

Naminé invited her in, the redhead following after her quickly as they began climbing stairs towards the blonde's room, "He's alright, I guess. I don't get him anymore. He's all upset about what happened two weeks ago, and he hasn't dropped his Heartless theory, and he's spending all his time with Sora. He makes no sense! Logically, shouldn't he be scared of hanging around Sora since it was his connection with Sora that caused that incident?"

Kairi sighed and shrugged, "Eh, guys, they don't make sense. Point is, we wanted them to spend more time together, and now he's going over there practically every day, right? So, no harm, no foul."

"Well… I guess… Anyways, how about Sora? How's he doing?"

Kairi shrugged, and sighed more, "Roxas is there all the time, but he still hasn't made his move! That day after the accident, I was so sure that they would do it, but instead he just… he just **kissed** him. I didn't think Sora was capable of restraint! If it was even restraint… You know, he didn't even seem regretful that he didn't get any that day."

"He really does like Roxie, doesn't he?" Naminé giggled.

Kairi rolled her eyes at that, "Oh, God, does he. I'm just hoping he decides to do something with him soon, or else I don't know what he'll do. Just in case, either way, I put some extra lube and condoms under his pillow," Naminé blushed as she spun around to look at Kairi in shock, but the redhead just winked at her playfully.

She shook it off, a grin jumping to her face, "Well, let's forget about them," she opened the doors to her room and they rushed inside, both jumping onto the pure white couch quickly, "I want to know everything that's new with you since that dumb fight of ours! Family, guys, school, everything! I've missed you!"

Kairi hugged the blonde again, smiling as she continued to lean on the girl as they fell back onto the cushions, "I missed you, too! So much! I'm never going to fight with you ever again!"

_Maybe it was better to just accept it for how it is… To admit defeat, even if that means the death of everything you stood for originally. He didn't want to go down with his ship, he wanted to continue living, and so if that meant becoming captive to the other team… He would._

Sora sighed contentedly as he leaned back on the headboard of his bed, the pillow behind his bag, his eyes watching the blonde in his lap. Yes. That's right. Roxas is in his lap, and he is somehow managing to resist a boner.

He had somehow managed to continuously become more and more intimate with Roxas every day that he visited, which was pretty much every day, and so he had made great strides in their relationship in the past two weeks. Another surprising thing is that Roxas will let him kiss him now… as long as Sora does something for him in return… like make him a sandwich, or tell him more about his father.

In fact, Roxas usually came over here with his laptop, spent the entire time typing on it and searching the internet, and then just ask Sora questions about his father or the Heartless. Sora was getting pretty sick of it, and he knew that it was pretty ridiculous that this was how the relationship was turning out… So he wasn't going to let it continue like that for too much longer. He had already gotten to second base with Roxas… Sorta… well, he got his hand down his pants the other day and groped him a bit, and got to listen to a couple cute noises from him before Roxas punched him nice and hard on the sternum to make him stop. But he thought he had given Roxas plenty of time to adjust to their relationship and stuff and…

Fuck it.

A guy has needs, alright?

He shifted his legs, Roxas grunting in annoyance as he was shifted a bit and his typing was thrown off. He back-spaced a bit and then continued undisturbed. Sora grinned at that, letting one of his arms weave around Roxas' back and rest on his hip, the other hand making itself quite comfy on Roxas' upper-thigh. He heard the typing stutter in its rhythm, a slight pause in the sound before it seemed to deal with the disturbance and continue.

Not what Sora had been going for, he had been looking forward to attention being placed on himself, in fact, he wanted _all _of Roxas' attention. Every last drop of it. The hand on his thigh moved and snapped the laptop shut, Roxas' hands barely pulling out of it fast enough to not be caught, "What are you doing! I'm doing research, Sora!"

The brunette tugged the computer away and pushed it onto the side table beside his bed, "It's time for an extra-curricular activity, alright?"

Roxas frowned, but Sora could see the red clearly growing on the pale face, making his own begin to heat up in delight at the idea he could cause Roxas to blush. Then the icy blue eyes snapped back to him and spoke in a dull voice, "Then tell me about how the Heartless-"

"No."

Roxas' eyes widened as the brunette rolled them over, pushing the blonde more into the corner of his bed, his lips immediately attaching to the pale neck before him. Roxas yelped lowly, eyes squinting shut in surprise, "Sora, stop it! D-Don't-OW! Why are you biting? A-And don't lick me like a dog! I-I don't want y-your spit all o-over me!"

Sora huffed against his neck, mentally rolling his eyes at him as he continued to nibble at the neck, smiling as he heard the tiny noises that Roxas was beginning to make, noticing with much satisfaction that the hands on his shoulders were not pushing him away at all, but holding on tightly. Sucking softly at the crook of the blonde's neck, he felt the way the teen under him gasped silently at it, and nearly laughed in delight.

If Roxas sat in his lap now… he would most definitely feel the start of his boner.

Aware of the fact that he could take the chance to get quite physical here, he didn't waste time in reaching his hand underneath the blonde's t-shirt, sliding softly against the soft stomach beneath his touch. He nearly arched up into his hand as his fingers brushed over the right nipple. He adjusted his legs, straddling the boy beneath him just as he felt the other's fingers reaching up to tangle into his hair, and then Sora felt his head jerked away from the pale neck just to have his lips preoccupied with another set again.

Sora was nothing less than surprised at that, but then he was shocked when he suddenly felt a tongue beginning to pry at his lips. Obviously, he let it in and met it with his own immediately, shivering at the sound of the small moan the blonde made.

Jesus fucking Christ. Wasn't Roxas the virgin here? And yet the kid could make him quake…

He ground their crotches together, relishing in the groan that ripped through the throat, sucking in his breath at the vibrations it made, and began rubbing his fingers gently over the boy's right nipple. Roxas' fingers tightened in his hair, tiny sounds beginning to emit from his mouth once more, and Sora ground them together once more.

"Ah! S-Stop that!" Roxas suddenly choked out, glaring up at the deep blue eyes in front of him, but Sora just grinned down at him, making him flush more, "You're gonna… Y-You're gonna… Stop it!" He snapped as he was grinded against again.

He felt a tangling presence inside him, down in his… region, making him shift uncomfortably, but no matter what position he was in, Sora grinding against him, his finger circling and gently pinching his nipple, those lips sucking at his neck once again, they all made the feeling more intense. He knew what was coming, he knew he was getting hard, and he knew that Sora was aiming for sex.

He could get Sora off him, of course, he had taken quite a few self-defense classes, and with the opening like this, he could get Sora off him and hurt him easily… But his lack of resistance to the brunette makes it quite obvious to both you and him that he didn't really want him off. And until this was over, he wasn't about to question that good feeling growing down there.

"S-Sora…"

Sora groaned that time, finally moving to slide the t-shirt full off the blonde, Roxas letting him slip it off easily enough, if not a little awkwardly, turning his head at the same time to leave Sora with a different part of the neck. He continued happily, sucking intensely at one spot, nearly laughing as he felt the boy underneath him squirm a bit, and then began kissing down to the collarbone, nibbling down it to the hollow of it, just above his sternum, licking from there straight up the boys neck.

He felt the quakes that wracked the other's body, and then he felt his world spin. Suddenly, he was on his back, and if it weren't for his sight being locked on the flushed face of the shirtless blonde straddling his hips, he surely would have been more disorientated. Needless to say, he focused quickly on what was important.

Slim hands tugged at his shirt, roughly pulling it off the brunette before moving his quivering hands down to the pants. His fingers stumbled over the button, making Sora smile at him, smile at the idea that Roxas was really doing this with him…

_He wasn't going to go down with his ship, he wasn't that patriotic. If living happily on the enemies side was possible… he would oblige._

The pants were being tugged down awkwardly, Sora lifting his hips with an amused smile as the blonde tugged them off slowly. Then he was crawling up between his legs, not meaning to look sexy, in fact he looked like he was terrified, but that somehow was adorable. Because he knew Roxas _wanted_ to do this, that nothing in the world would be able to force him into it, and so he was doing this completely of his own will.

It made him ecstatic.

… And harder.

Gulping, Roxas began to tug down the boxers too, hesitating before hand, but then just grabbing them and ripping them off down his legs. Sora hissed as the air was suddenly exposed to him, but sucked that breath back in immediately as he felt the soft touch on his member. Eyes snapping down, he watched with a smirk as Roxas' hand gently wrapped around him, the blonde's eyes focused elsewhere, as he began to pump him shakily.

Sora groaned softly, making Roxas glance over to see the brunette smiling cockily at him, making him turn away and move his hand a bit faster. He just had to remember what he would do to himself… right? He pressed his thumb gently against the head, a louder groan jumping from Sora's throat. His face was becoming redder, and he could feel it, but he didn't stop, instead bringing his other hand up to cup the brunette's balls.

He shivered as he felt the throbbing cock in his hand, and then a random idea jumped to his mind, and he couldn't believe he even considered it. It was just too demeaning, too whorish. He couldn't stand the idea… Why was he considering it?

Gulping, he took a quick glance at Sora's face, encouraged by another moan and the flush across his face, and then cautiously moved down. Shaking a bit in nervousness, he squeezed his eyes shut and slowly stuck his tongue out to quickly lick at the head. Sora's groan made his heart and groin jump, so he took it further, ignoring the taste all together, and began to slowly slip his mouth over the top.

Several things processed in his head at that very moment: the sound Sora made was purely primal and made his rib cage tremble in pleasure, the hard throbbing erection barely in his mouth made him feel dirty and quite slutty and he was positive he did not like it at all, and he was going to blow the shit out of Sora if he was going to make more sounds like that.

He moved his mouth further over it, using the rest of his hand to continue pumping the rest of the erection, and the other hand on his pelvis out of fear he would buck up into his mouth and choke him. Sucking hard at it, he felt the pleasure rush straight down to his dick at the sound from Sora, encouraging him to continue, to do more. He bobbed his head a bit, he let his tongue stroke it, and then he had to get off.

It felt good, it felt way too good, it made him feel so dirty, and he wasn't sure anymore if that were a bad thing. Either way, he wiped his mouth hastily just before Sora grabbed his shoulders and forced him back onto the bed, the brunette leering over him and crushing their mouths together. He immediately registered the presence of fingers swiftly undoing his jeans, pushing them off his hips with his boxers. Sora kicked them off for him, making him squirm in complete discomfort.

If he tried to cover himself, he would seem awkward and dumb. If he let himself lay there… then Sora would see him _naked_. Which was kind of half the sex, having to let someone see your privates, and Roxas had not only seen Sora's but taken it in his mouth, but… but _still._

Either way, next thing he felt was Sora's hand digging under the pillow beneath his head, making his eyes open in surprise as he heard something clatter to the floor, glancing at the object in Sora's hand, he blushed as he realized it was lube. Sora just smiled down at him cutely, pouring some of the substance on his fingers and coating them with it, then the brunette moved farther down, his eyes glued to Roxas' face.

Roxas, obviously, feeling awkward, look away as he felt his legs spread, his fingers tightening their grip on the bedspread beneath him, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt just a single finger begin slipping up there. It was cold, it kind of hurt, mostly unpleasant, and all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut and groan in displeasure.

Then he felt a slick hand embrace him, and his moaned suddenly, the hand pumping up and down slowly, his attention being split between the uncomfortable finger up his ass and the pleasure the hand influenced on him. Then the second finger slid up there, and he wasn't so sure he would be able to handle this. There was more pain, and it stung, especially when they started to actually spread him, but if that weren't enough, Sora had to pry him apart to slip the third finger up there with the others, and he felt like there was just way too much up his ass for him.

They moved deeper into him, making him wince, but the hand continued on his cock, making another part of him whine in heat, the mixture nearly brought him to tears, but not until those fingers finally reached deep enough did he cry out. The stretched him, they reached around inside him, and they touched that spot in him that just made him arch off the bed.

He felt so violated, like all his boundaries had been breached, and he felt partially like Sora was an enemy that was to be expelled… but his body just couldn't get enough of him, it made his legs spread further apart, it made his hips attempt to rock against those fingers, it made him buck up into the hand, it made him clutch the bedspread for dear life as he became more sure that his back would split in half from the way he arched.

And then the hands pulled away, and he felt his legs lifted up on something. Suddenly, Sora's face was parallel with his, his eyes widening as they locked with those above him, and as he felt his legs being pushed up on the brunette's shoulders, he realized what was coming a moment before it was too late. Sora was pushing in.

He winced as he felt the stretching, it wasn't as bad as it could have been though. It actually wasn't that horrible at all. Granted, it did hurt pretty bad, especially when he got deeper and deeper, but he couldn't shake the thought from his head that this was Sora. Sora was inside him. Part of him just wanted to moan from the thought, making him feel like a whole new level of embarrassed, and then Sora stopped, making him finally let the breath he was holding out.

He panted, he wasn't ashamed of that, he needed the air, but even the air was as sweltering as him, and it just felt like he was becoming more suffocated with every breath until Sora's lips pressed against his roughly. He moaned into the brunette's mouth, letting the others tongue attempt and play with his, but his mind was all on the feel of the throbbing wood inside him, his walls twitching around it as he adjusted.

Then, without warning, he pulled out and rammed back in, making him nearly shout out. He gasped as he felt it move inside him, his eyes cracking open to watch Sora over him, rocking in and out of him repeatedly, those blue eyes entrancing as they watched him. He flushed, knowing he probably looked pathetic, panting, red-faced, moaning with every movement, but he couldn't stop, he didn't want to stop. And then that same spot was struck again, and again, and again, and Roxas knew he would end up breaking his back. He grabbed at any source of hold, trying to find something better than the comforter below them to keep him in some sort of control.

Clutched at Sora's arms, then shoulders, letting his dulls nails dig into the tan skin. He felt his head fill with the sensations, his throat beginning to become sore from the sounds he was making. He was so aware of everything, and just as much was blocked out. The world didn't exist anymore, all he knew was Sora, every movement Sora made, everything he made him feel.

He was muttering something, like "please," he was sure, but he was saying something else, or was that Sora? He couldn't tell, it didn't matter, all that mattered was the way Sora was moving.

Suddenly, he felt the heat in his stomach was growing too much, he lost his mind, and suddenly everything turned white. He trembled, feeling his heart beat's sending quakes through his limbs, and then he felt intense heat spilling inside him, making him moan. And everything felt frozen in time.

His breathing was rough, and his body felt overheated, it wasn't for another minute that he realized Sora's body was resting over his own, and then it was another minute before he realized just what he had done.

"Sora…" His throat hurt, his voice came out rough, but Sora's head shifted towards him.

"I love you."

Roxas' mouth hung open in surprise, feeling the brunette's breathing against his neck as it relaxed into a sleeping rhythm. So that was what he had been saying…

He frowned, turning his head to the side as he felt the heat rush back into his face once more, muttering under his breath, "… You too."


	14. Epilogue

**_Sorry this took so long to upload, guys, there was a FF error for a lot users, and I kept getting an error message every time I tried to edit my stories. But I heard that when you get this error message, to change the word "property" in the address bar to "content." It still doesn't work completely, but at least I can update! :D_**

* * *

_At this time in his life, he would've thought he would be settled down in a home, on the country, with his high school sweet-heart, Aerith, raising their baby and living it day by day because they didn't have a worry in the world. At this time in his life, he thought all the struggles he had faced as a kid, a teen, a young adult, would have stayed in the past, that he would have grown out and away from it, and he would be allowed to live the rest of his life in peace._

_At this time in his life, he had thought he would have had the chance to at least raise his son, to at least watch his own child grow-up… But he would never get these things, and he knew it well enough._

_He lived his entire life in Hollow Bastion, and he would now get to leave for the sole purpose of war. His Aerith had died a year after graduating from high school, by the hands of a rival gang leader, Sephiroth. And now he would have to leave his only son with a woman he really didn't love, who he really didn't even think would do a good enough job of raising him in the way he deserves, and go off to fight a war he really didn't give shit about, because he couldn't stay here anymore._

_Cradling the small child in his arms, he stared down at the bright blue eyes of the boy, of the way he gurgled and giggled staring up at him, the grin he gave shining with brilliant warmth. If he had a real choice, he would choose to stay with the child and see that smile every day. But he was already in the uniform, his son reaching out to play with the dog tags around his neck as he was attracted to the light glinting off them._

_He sighed and finally glanced away from the child, turning to look up at Cloud and Auron, both sitting in the lawn chairs across from him in Auron's backyard, the two also looking over the baby boy. Cloud sighed to himself, picking up his bottle of beer and lifting it to his lips, turning his eyes to the stars above them, "When I become the leader of the gang, you can come back, we'll keep everyone safe then."_

_He slowly shook his head, grinning at his best-friend, "Thanks, you know I won't be back though."_

_Cloud didn't answer; tired of trying to convince his friend otherwise, when really he was just trying to convince himself. He didn't want his friend to go, not when they knew he would probably die, he didn't want his friend's child to be raised by that woman he knocked up by accident, she was a bitch who didn't deserve the child… He didn't want things to turn out this way, when they had been planning for it to be so much better back when they were younger._

_Auron stood, sighing deeply to himself as he walked over to the child, his god-son, staring straight into the large blue eyes that peered up at him curiously, trustingly. He reached out, poking the boy's belly and flicking his nose, making the child squeal, then looked to his brother, "He's going to be a lot like you. With the goofy grins and dumbass moves…"_

_Zack chuckled, "Then do me a favor: get him back from his mom, raise him to be a good, happy kid, and make sure he has a future."_

_Auron huffed, turning to walk back to his seat, "Hey, I have a son too, you know, I gotta raise him."_

"_Raise them like brothers!" Zack chuckled, "Like how we were… except, better… with less fighting and more studying."_

"_I studied plenty; you were the dumbass on the streets."_

_Zack just chuckled, glancing down at his son again, then sighing, "Change his name when you get him, too. I don't want everyone to judge him after me."_

_Cloud scowled at him, "He should be proud to have the same last name as you."_

"_I don't want him to be."_

* * *

"Sora Fair."

The brunette jumped as he snapped out of his thoughts, turning his attention away from the clear blue sky to glance back at his boyfriend, grinning at the blonde, "Roxie-Babe, how's it shakin'?"

Roxas looked horrified for a moment, "Oh, God, please never repeat any part of that sentence again."

Sora just continued to grin brightly at the boy, jumping out of his lawn chair to merrily bounce over to the blonde, and peck him on the lips, "No guarantees."

He frowned at him, pulling away, "Whatever, what did you call me here for?"

Sora pouted at him, wrapping his arms around Roxas' waist and pulling him closer, "Don't you remember what today is?"

Roxas stared back at him blankly, looking completely and honestly confused, then he suddenly seemed entirely displeased, "Please tell me you aren't going to come out with some dumb 12 week anniversary shit, I'm just as shocked we've made it 3 months, too, but you don't have to keep track of it using the same counting system as a mother who is giving her baby's age."

The brunette was pouting again, this time his eyes widening to look extra pitiful, "For one, no, that's tomorrow, and two, I like to keep track that way because you **are** my baby," Roxas scoffed, but Sora continued on anyways, "But, no, today is Valentine's Day!"

Roxas' face dropped and seemed shocked a bit, "Today?"

"You forgot, didn't you?" Sora frowned as the blonde nodded a bit nervously, then a grin began to work on his face, "Well, that's alright, I know how you can make it up to me! Okay, so you remember that thong in my bottom drawer with my name on it? Go find it, put it on-"

"No."

"But you foooooorgooooooot-"

"Forgot to say it, I planned ahead three weeks ago, we have reservations for dinner tonight, so Happy Valentine's Day, dumbass…" Sora's eyes widened, going slightly teary as he stared at the blonde, Roxas looking away awkwardly as he felt his face begin to heat up.

Sora kissed him lightly for a moment, trying hard not to smile too much, before pulling away and letting the blonde go to just stand in front of him, "Alright, my turn, close your eyes."

Roxas frowned, but did as he was told, figuring no harm would come out of it either way. He heard a slight clinking sound, like metal against metal, and then felt incredibly soft cloth wrapped around his neck, Sora's warm finger tips brushing along the back of his neck where he clipped the material together. Then the hands retracted for a moment, making him think that maybe it was time for him to open his eyes, but then he felt lips against his own, and he kissed back immediately as the familiar arms encircled his waist once more.

Slowly, Sora released him, telling him he could open his eyes again, and Roxas did just that, immediately lifting his hands to feel what had been placed around his neck. The incredibly soft cloth sat so comfortably and gently against his skin, making him wonder if Sora had been looking for something as comfortable as possible to keep from hurting him or something. Then he felt something smooth and cold against his fingers, his fingers wrapping around it to feel it out as his eyes widened with realization, his eyes drawn to Sora's own neck, where the familiar dog collar was missing…

Sora took a step back grabbing a mirror off the lawn chair and bringing it over to hold it up for Roxas to see the pure white band around his neck, dangling off them were Sora's father's dog tags. Roxas just stared at the tags hesitantly, his eyebrows drawing together as he turned his eyes back to meet Sora's, "Are you sure?"

He nodded back once, his eyes lowering to stare at the tags as he did so, "Yeah."

The blonde frowned, shaking his head a bit, "But these were your dad's, why would-"

"Because I can't put a tattoo on you yet, legally at least. The guys gotta know I have your ass one way or the other."

Sora grinned as Roxas' jaw just dropped, the blonde's eyebrows furrowing together in anger, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Sora shrugged at him, slowly, sighing deeply at the same time, "No, sorry. I just… I feel like you're closer this way, sorta… Every time I see it on myself, I just think about his death, and the way he left. I don't want to carry it around if it's just going to remind me of how he left me. I want to remember the good things about him too. And if they're on you, then there's no way I can't smile when I see them, because I see you too. When I see them, there's no way that I will feel bad from them, because I'll see you too…"

Roxas crossed his arms, turning his eyes down to the mirror again to look at the tags, and then shrugged slightly, "If it makes you feel better, I guess I can do it."

His heart was beating fast, and he felt like his throat was closing up slightly, and he knew he wouldn't be physically capable of talking anymore because of that, but he wasn't going to show that. Sora just smiled at him, walking up to him and wrapping his arms around the blonde's shoulders carefully, gently pecking him on the forehead as the other turned his face down. He breathed in slowly, reaching up to wrap his arms around Sora's waste, pulling himself closer to the other and sighing in relief at the warmth he felt in the hug.

He never knew how much he missed just holding someone until he was held himself.

Hearing Sora gulp, he knew that the other was having a lot of difficulty with speaking himself, but surprisingly his voice remained unaffected, "Thanks, Rox. I love you."

Roxas nodded back slightly, beginning to bite on his bottom lip as he knew his line was now up, the one he would always have trouble saying, the one he could never stop himself from feeling so shy about. Those dreadful three words that would just leave him open and vulnerable to the world, it felt like, and at the same time Sora was the only person he would ever want to say these words to, to say them to and feel them for. Still, though, they were still just so heart-wrenching to say still…

"I just want to make you happy."

* * *

_It was possibly the scariest fucking thing that had ever happened to him, to be on the other side of the justice system and see what can be done, is done, to criminals. And he was just being taken in for questioning…_

_Now, for the sake of Sora's pride, the police treated kids from the Bastion much differently than kids from the Gardens, they treated them like they were the future hardened criminals of society… granted, there was a grain of truth in that most of them were statistically very likely to be criminals of some sort by the time they hit puberty, but that gave them no reason to be so rough while dragging Sora in for questioning. Another thing, had the cuffs really been necessary? He hadn't been resisting!_

_No, seriously! He would've gone if the police had asked, but instead he took the time to turn around and look to see who the hell was telling him to put his hands behind his head and get on the ground, thinking it was a joke, and then was promptly tackled and cuffed… Damn, his friends were going to think he was badass after this._

_That, of course, is not the point though, because he was taken in for questioning for a reason, he assumes, and now that he's waiting in this interrogation room, waiting to find out what it is that happened and how he was involved with it, that he was given the chance to think back about every law that either he or his friends broke that he could remember… There were a number of those, but he didn't think any of them were significant enough for them to be tracked down like this. Just the normal kids' stuff, like trespassing, nothing he thought would warrant this. So maybe it had been something a friend of his did? He really hoped he wasn't about to be dragged into someone else's crime, he is not impeding the justice system, he hopes they know that, he will rat them out in a split second if he knows they did something wrong._

_Suddenly the door opened, and his head snapped up to look at the officer that walked in, the man walking in casually, his plain black suit immediately making Sora remember the "Men in Black," a scowl fixed on the man's face through years of displeasure. He dropped a thin file on the table, and took a seat, flipping open the file and beginning to read it in silence, and while he read and the silence stretched, all that flashed through Sora's head was every cop drama he's seen and the times of interrogation…_

_Finally, the file snapped shut, and Sora looked up into the eyes of the interrogator, the man staring back at him, the scowl still in place, and then he spoke in a deep, earth-shattering tone, "Okay, kid, where's your dad?"_

_Sora just blinked at him, raised an eyebrow, then chuckled a bit, his nervous reaction, "That a joke? C'mon man, that's not a cool thing to mess around with. He's a soldier, he's fighting."_

_The man just continued to stare at him, making Sora start to feel nervous, to start doubting himself, to start to wonder if that really is where his father is right now. It has to be, if he weren't off fighting, he'd be home with him, he would be here if he weren't there. So he has to be there…_

_Oh, God, please let him be there._

_He doesn't want to think that his father abandoned him._

"_We know about his involvement with Heartless, we have our evidence, but what would you know," The man continued, making Sora's eyes widen, his heart ripping against his chest in fear, "He goes MIA the day we're about to take him into custody… Where's he hiding, kid? He at home? He with you and your uncle? Or did he leave you behind, too?"_

_Sora shook his head slowly, shakily, "He's not… I mean, I don't know where he is. He's not there… but he didn't abandon me!"_

_The man just shook his head, the scowl deepening, accusing, and Sora wanted to scream. All those years of writing back and forth to his dad, all those years of that being his only connection to the man… He knows his dad cares about him; he knows he wouldn't abandon him. He's just running from the police, he doesn't want to get locked up, because then he would never see Sora…_

_He narrowed his eyes back at the weary man across from him, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the chair, giving the man a scowl of his own, "You don't know shit about my dad."_

* * *

"He was an awesome guy, like one of those heroes that you read about in comic-books when you're a kid, you know?" Roxas nodded, letting the smile cross his face only as he was pulled out of the brunette's view, against Sora's chest he stared up at the stars from their spot, sitting against the back of the apartment, in Sora's meager backyard.

"A hero, really?"

Sora chuckled lightly, resting his cheek against the back of Roxas' head, cushioned in the soft blonde hair, "Yeah, really... He had been in Heartless since he was 14, you know? And back then it had been good… I mean, they weren't like other gangs, they were dangerous, and they did hurt people, but they always had a meaning to their crime. Like when the police abused their power, they would get back, or when they found someone dealing drugs to kids, they took care of him. When they came across someone in danger, they helped them even if they would face the consequences enforced by society and the government. They took justice to a different level…"

Roxas sighed, his eyebrows furrowing together as he thought about that, wondering if that could still really be considered justice, or actually just a person acting on their own values and morals? He didn't say anything though, he just let Sora continue, "My dad was a big part of them, he was always trying to help people, and he helped a lot of people. Auron told me about this one girl, Aerith, who he had been in love with back in high school… she had died, but she had been a part of them too. She had represented them when she went to soup kitchens, and volunteered at hospitals… They had wanted to change Hollow Bastion, they wanted to make it _clean_."

Sora had paused there, shifting positions to wrap his arms around Roxas' back, his hand resting on his chest to feel the blonde's heartbeat, "Obviously, it didn't work out that well. A lot of the other gangs in the area at the time weren't really happy about them messing around with their shit like that, and somehow this crazy bastard named Sephiroth managed to convince all of them to get together and 'resist' Heartless… 'Resist,' like they were a bad cold that you can feel coming up…"

"To them, they probably were something to be resisted… They were an unwelcomed change." Roxas muttered, shrugging lightly, then sighed as he leaned further into Sora's chest and relaxed.

Sora huffed, "Whatever, either way, those numbers against Heartless wasn't a good combination, and they disbanded in a way… Well, they were kind of forced… Sephiroth was picking off the leaders of Heartless, to make sure that they wouldn't actually gain any power and really do something, and my dad was one of the targets, so he left and became a soldier…"

Roxas frowned slightly, biting his lip in contemplation before realizing something was missing from that story, "Where did you come from in all that?"

He shrugged a bit, "He met my mom somewhere in that mess, accidentally knocked her up, had me, and told my uncle to take me from my mom. My mom abandoned me, she left me with my uncle and took off, so it all worked out, I guess…"

The blonde maneuvered himself, turning to place a small kiss on the other's cheek, before blushing lightly and muttering an apology softly. Sora laughed at him lightly, about to pull him closer, but Roxas squirmed away from him and smiled as he went inside to grab them something to drink. He walked through the small living room casually, having gotten to used to the surroundings to a point of comfort with them, and then slipped into the kitchen. He pulled the fridge open and began searching around inside before eventually grabbing two cans of coke.

Letting the door shut on its own, he turned to walk back to Sora when suddenly Auron appeared right in front of him, making him jump nearly a foot. He just nodded to the older man, about to walk around him when Auron spoke quietly, his voice low and rough, heavy with mourning as he spoke, the words causing chills to run up his spine.

"Sephiroth was the 'friendly fire' that killed him."

* * *

_It wasn't a rainy day, but it was a fairly cloudy one. The actual weather didn't matter either way though, because he was still gloomy as all fucking hell. The first time he would meet his father in the flesh… and it would be when the man is in a coffin._

_The world just isn't right._

_He cried, and he remembered thinking that it just wasn't right that this would be the only memory he will have of his father in person. That whenever he remembers his father's face, it will be the face his father had at his last breath. He remembers standing in the front of the group as they all gathered around his grave, him being the one directly in front of the tombstone. Again, messed up when the first interaction he has with his father, outside their letters, is placing a flower on his grave._

_And things just continued to fall apart from there, piece-by-piece, until he would unravel and spin into disaster. Each time a person went up to speak about his father, and every time a person would walk up to speak about Zack Fair. He did not speak about either of these men, instead he would stay quiet, thinking of the letters at home, thinking of how they had been sneaking around the cops with sending them back in forth, so that they wouldn't find his location after being MIA for three years._

_Sora had never asked him why he had been MIA in the first place…_

_The funeral ended, and he was led back to the car, and the ride back home was long, silent, and full of grief. He would realize he'd been clutching something in his pocket that entire time, and pull it out to open his hands up stiffly to see the dog tags that the soldier had given him, the ones that he had received when they were told he was dead…_

_It struck more deeply then._

_His mother had abandoned him…_

_His father was dead…_

_What was next to go?_

_That night, he walked down the street to the pet shop; walked in, bought the first 10 buck collar he grabbed, and got the dog tags on it._

_He hadn't taken it off for a single day until he met Roxas._

_Now Roxas had it, now Roxas was carrying the last piece of his father with him, and he had sworn to never take it off. His mother had abandoned him, and his father had been forced to leave him behind, but Roxas wasn't going to leave any time soon. Putting those dog tags on the blonde was more than just a meaningful gift, he felt like he had given Roxas his heart now… and at the same time…_

_He felt like he had tied Roxas to him too._

* * *

Anywhere Roxas would go, Sora would follow him, whether it be to the end of the earth, Hell, or to the bathroom, he would be there with him through it all… Well, he wasn't serious about the bathroom part…

Most of the time…

So when Roxas told him the great news about being accepted to Harvard, he thought his stomach dropped out of his ass. That was not a place where Sora could go, that was not a place where he could even dream of going, ever. He never wanted Roxas to leave though, he wouldn't let him, Roxas was tied to him, and even if he couldn't go to Harvard with Roxas, he could still go to the city with him.

Sora was planning how to pay for a cheap apartment in Cambridge (and failing to figure out how he would make end's meat), when he got the letter in the mail. Roxas presented it eagerly to him as they sat on the couch, making the brunette role his eyes and smirk at him. He had been getting quite a few letters from colleges, just like everyone else, but he would only ever apply to the ones that waived the application fees for him, and then he'd only save the ones who offered him a scholarship upon acceptance. Roxas had been helping him the entire time, going through his applications and helping him choose which to fill out and the bitch called the financial aid form, but the guy had this insane idea in his head that Sora had the chance to actually go to one of these colleges. He didn't have the money to even submit the applications, never mind attend.

He ripped it open, gently tugging the contents out to read the first line of the letter before his jaw nearly dropped to the floor as his eyes passed over the word. "Congratulations!" His heart felt like it nearly stopped right in his chest in that moment, and then it nearly had a stroke with the next as his eyes passed over the words, "full four-year scholarship."

Roxas had hugged him in his happiness, but he still had felt so confused as to how it had even happened… Now that he thinks about it, he never applied to Harvard, so how did this even happen?

"Does it matter if you applied or not?" Roxas snorted, grinning at him as he took the letter and envelope and carefully folded the letter back up before placing it at the top of pile of Sora's acceptance letters, "I mean, c'mon Sor, people would kill for this chance, and you just got it, I'd just take it if I were you…"

Sora nodded quickly, frowning a bit as he leaned back, "Well, yeah, I mean, I'm glad and everything… It's just weird… You didn't send an application in for me, did you?"

The blonde's head snapped over to look at him, jaw dropped dramatically, "You think I would do that? I thought you trusted me! Why can't you just accept it and be happy with it?"

Sora's eyes widened as Roxas suddenly snapped at him, making him carefully place his hands on the blonde's shoulders to help calm him, "Woah, chill Rox, I'm not saying I'm not happy, I'm really happy! Seriously! This means I can go to the same school as you and everything. I'm just asking if you're the one who filled out an application and paid the fee…"

Roxas' cheeks heated a little from how Sora was just staring and waiting for his answers, so he turned his eyes away, making him realize just how guilty he must look already, but if he told Sora that he entered his name during the blood drive instead of his own… He got the feeling Sora wouldn't be happy about it. Maybe if he just admitted to the lesser of two evils? He nodded his head slowly, looking back at Sora to see the brunette pouting like a stubborn child, "Roooooxie! I told you to not pay for me!"

"It was just one application, though! I swear! I just wanted you to go to the same school as me!" He threw in quickly, hugging the other again, like he was hoping to ward off the anger, "You can just pay me back later! It wasn't even that much!"

Sora bit his lip as he knew what Roxas thought was cheap and what he thought was cheap were completely different things. To Roxas, cheap is under a hundred bucks. To Sora, cheap is free, "And how much is it…?"

"It was just 75 bucks, it's not that bad-"

"That's more than half my fucking paycheck!"

"Whoa," Roxas suddenly pulled away, looking at Sora in shock and causing the other to look up at him in consequential confusion, "Whoa…"

"What?" He raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

Roxas just winced, "You make _that little_?"

Sora glared **hard**, but Roxas just smiled back and shrugged suddenly, "So, you wanna share a dorm or an apartment?"

* * *

**_My endings still suck. :) Glad to see that my writing skill has gone back to normal, officially._**

**_xD Anyways, I first off want everyone to leave a review praising OmniaVanitas for bringing about this epilogue and helping me finally manage to become satisfied enough with it to label it finished. Yeah. Guys. I'm serious. And I never order reviews either. xD Especially on stories where I get plenty anyways. Speaking of which, I do love all of your guys reviews, I really do, and I read every single one of them, and when you guys actually leave something meaningful (not that I don't like my cheering section ;D) I really take it to heart. But I seriously just get too many now, or the same amount as before but with less time to answer._**

**_ANYWAYS, seriously, everyone send much love to that girl, she's a trooper. xD Roxas' reaction to his gift in the last part of the Valentine's Day scene would not have been written without her suggestions and support, that's how much she has done! You know, besides reading it over, giving me her opinion, helping me figure out what to even write about here, helping me figure out my own characters, helping me figure out a deeper reaction to certain things because all my loveless romances were no where near as deep as these two boy's. Also, if anyone actually reads all my author's notes, they would notice I mention her helping me out in practically all of them now... Just saying... I think she deserves some cred here, guys. xD_**

**_Thanks to everyone who reads these stories of mine though, and for sticking with this story after me taking months to update at times. You guys are awesome! :P I love you._**


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